Ruki Mood in Mood Gone Mad
by shadowlugia249
Summary: Original Story! A medley of VG characters including Lugia, Babus Swain, Ristar and Klonoa must work with an original character named Ruki to stop a sorcerer from taking over the world. The first in the Ruki Mood Trilogy. Now updated.


**Ruki Mood in Mood Gone Mad**

**Prologue**

On the planet of Mood Star there once lived a great civilization. This civilization knew many things that present-day Moods did not. They could harness fusion, interstellar travel and even time travel.

The civilization created the Golden Fortress to honor and harness the power of the gods. This was known as the Golden Power. It was three sacred triangles that consisted of three elements: Leadership, Hope and Fate.

One day, the Golden Power fell into the hands of darkness. Cities were ravaged, and Moods were tortured, brutalized and murdered. Evil used the added strength of the Golden Fortress to spread the darkness across the world.

It was in the darkest hour that an ancient power sent by the protectors of the Golden Power, the "Pure Ones", shattered the night sky. A shower of crystals known as a meteor shower brought forth in its light two heroes. Together they sought the Pure Ones and defeated the darkness that covered the world.

To prevent history from reoccurring, the Pure Ones sealed the Golden Power and the Golden Fortress deep beneath the ground. The Pure Ones then erased the civilization from history and banished them from all knowledge. This would ensure that no one would ever be able to resurrect the Golden Power again.

Centuries passed in peace while the Pure Ones guarded the Golden Power from any intruders. The Pure Ones feared that the era known as the Golden Age would reoccur, so they sealed themselves inside the temple to guard the Golden Power forever more.

The temple remained safe until one fateful day in time...

**Chapter 1: The Tomb**

In the year 20XX, a young explorer known as Professor James Mood was out with his wife and baby boy, Ruki Mood, as well as a group of friends doing an archeological dig in Mood Star Flats. They were about to unlock an ancient tomb that was devoted to the Pure Ones and an ancient power.

"Ruki! Don't run off too far," called James, distracted from moving a large boulder and dropping it on a colleague's foot.

"OUCH!!!" yelled the Mood hopping on one foot. "Watch it, ya yutz!"

James looked over to see what damage had been done. "Oh. Sorry, Aru," he said. "My fault."

"Yeah, sure. Real nice," the Mood called Aru griped. He was not in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Another Mood walked up to James and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Shall we proceed with the demonstration, James?" said the Mood.

"Royalty first, Remus," said James politely. "I'll get Ruki." He wandered over and lifted Ruki out of a bush that he was hiding in.

Five minutes later the group was gathered inside the cave that James and Remus had uncovered. They were about a hundred and fifty feet inside when James called the group to a halt. He shined his lantern on a large stone wall covered in ancient carvings and symbols. The crowd gaped at the strange drawings.

"This is what we have uncovered so far," said James, pointing to a large picture of three triangles. "All we know is that the culture that carved these runes worshiped these triangles as a symbol of life and power. These triangles were known in three parts: Leadership, Hope and Fate. We don't know much else about them right now.

"These three creatures," he pointed to three figures on the wall, "are known as the "Pure Ones". They were believed to be the creatures that created the world. Rumor has it that the Pure Ones are still in this world. These carvings, however, are the only pictures we have of them."

The group took a moment to let these words sink in. A squeal from little Ruki distracted them. Ruki was fidgeting with a small bump on the wall.

"What's that?" asked Aru, plainly.

"I... don't know," said James, bending down to look at it. "It looks like some kind of button. What is it doing here? I must have overlooked it when I was examining the tablet. Let's see what it does." He reached out to press the button.

"Uh, James," said Mrs. Mood, anxiously, but too late. James had pushed the stone button.

Nothing whatsoever happened.

"Huh," said James, disappointed. "I was hoping it did _something_."

He pressed it again several times. When nothing happened, he admitted defeat, picked up his lantern and turned to the group.

"Shall we?" said James, turning to go.

The group had no choice but to follow suit. The last to leave was Aru. He remained behind and took a final look at the wall for a moment before turning to go.

**Chapter 2: The Meteor Shower**

Mrs. Mood was preparing supper that night when she noticed something moving toward the cave. She couldn't see who it was because the Mood was wearing a cloak that covered his head. She was about to tell James about it when there was a large flash in the sky.

It appeared to be a large meteor shower. Mrs. Mood looked up with awe. Boy was she lucky! There were almost no meteor showers in the history of Mood Star. Other Moods were also looking up into the sky. They were gaping at the dazzling lights streaking across the night sky.

James walked over to his wife carrying Ruki in his arms. He was amazed at the sight of the meteor shower that had decided to fall on this night.

"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life?" said James, mystified.

"No, my dear. Not ever," said Mrs. Mood with an air in her voice.

No one noticed that there was a strange glow coming from the cave behind them.

Suddenly, there was a large meteor that was coming a little too close to the ground. James noticed that it appeared to be a fireball heading straight for the camp.

"Hit the deck!" yelled James, grabbing his wife and Ruki and flinging himself down on the ground.

Nobody needed a second bidding. They dropped to the ground just as the meteor came whizzing overhead and collided with the watch tower. There was a great _crunch_ and the next thing anyone knew, a large crater had appeared in the ground that could have made a decent pond.

When everyone got over the shock, James called out, "All right, who's not dead? Sound off!" There was a low groan from everyone as they tried to recover themselves.

"Remus, give me a damage report," called James over the camp. There was a pause and then Remus called back.

"Not as bad as it could have been. The watch tower's scrap, but everything else is undamaged. We were lucky this time."

James gathered himself and looked around.

"Where's Ruki?" he said to his wife.

It was indeed true. In the midst of all the commotion, Ruki had wandered off. It did not take long for them to discover where he had gone. A trail of footprints had appeared in the sand leading over to the crater.

"Ruki! Get over here!" said James worriedly.

But Ruki was jumping up and down and pointing into the crater, yelling, "Sta'! Sta'!"

James and Mrs. Mood jogged over to the crater, picking up Ruki and hugging him hard. James peered into the crater and gasped.

**Chapter 3: The Golden Power**

Down in the Mood-high crater was a large, glowing, slightly bruised, yellow crystal in the shape of a star. There appeared to be a large hole in the crystal where something had broken it. There also was something lying in the dirt.

James climbed slowly into the crater and walked carefully down the side towards the figure. He had to shield his eyes against the bright light emitting from the meteor.

"Be careful, James!" called his wife from the top.

James kept moving towards the figure in the middle of the crater. At last he reached it grabbing blindly with his eyes closed. Once he had his hands around what felt like a basket, the light emitting from the meteor immediately went out. The only available light now was the glow of the lanterns up at the camp.

James could not make out what was in the basket in this light, so he made his way up to the top of the crater. Most of the camp was now looking down at him from out of the hole now.

He appeared carrying a basket in his arms. Inside, curled up and fast asleep was, not a Mood, but a baby Star. It was a gift from the heavens, everyone thought. They all looked at it in awe.

James then noticed a leaf of parchment that was curled up in the side of the basket. He unfurled it and read aloud.

"Citizens of Mood Star, you are in great peril by uncovering the Golden Power. One among you is planning to claim the Golden Power and rule your world. You can only reverse this by seeking the "Pure Ones" and combining their strength to seal the Golden Power back where it belongs. This is Ristar, Star of Destiny. If you are too late to stop the Golden Power from being unleashed, then Ristar's Power will help reseal it again. Only one among you has the strength to fight alongside with Ristar and the "Pure Ones." Hurry! There is not much time."

Now you must understand that most adult Moods can't put two and two together. In fact, most of the group didn't take the clue that they were in trouble. James and Mrs. Mood were the only ones that took the hint. Mrs. Mood pointed out that she had seen someone heading toward the cave where the inscription was at.

Just then, a loud rumbling noise was heard coming from the cave. The ground began to tremble and the tents and shacks were starting to collapse.

"W-w-what's g-going on?" stuttered Remus due to the ground shaking violently.

James looked around the camp for Ruki, but he had disappeared. He held onto the basket containing Ristar who had woken up and started crying. All of a sudden, James tripped over a crack in the ground and tossed Ristar to the mouth of the cave.

Ristar picked himself up and ran wailing into the cave. James saw Ruki run after him. He tried to get close, but suddenly he ran into a golden barrier that had shot up out of nowhere. James was confused and panicked. If he couldn't get to Ruki, who would protect him?

Suddenly, there was a great explosion from up ahead and the cave exploded into a shower of raining rubble. A large beam of violet light was emitting from the ruins. James saw three balls of colored light circling the single beam and then separate in three different directions.

James then saw a large structure start to emerge from the rubble. He couldn't believe it. It was the Golden Fortress! It all made sense now. The meteor shower was triggered by someone unlocking the Golden Power. Ristar had been sent to reverse these events. Finally, the Pure Ones were released because the Golden Power was unleashed. The only missing link was: who had unlocked the Golden Power?

"What do you think, James?!" called a voice.

James looked at the foot of the Fortress. Aru was standing just feet from it.

"Aru?!" said James, shocked. "But... why?" It did not make any sense.

"Simple, my fine colleague," said Aru with a laugh. "Power. And lots of it. It's time this world understood the meaning of misery."

He gave an evil laugh and raised his arms. A single golden triangle appeared and began to radiate with purple light. James could only watch from behind the golden barrier as the beams of light destroyed the world around him and take his life as well.

Ruki and Ristar were blown away by the explosions to unknown locations.

**Chapter 4: The Dream**

Four years passed since the Golden Power had been unleashed on Mood Star. The green plains were now barren wastelands of death. The pure water of the lakes was now murky and full of sludge. The clear skies now had constant gray clouds hovering above around the clock. Even the Moods of Mood Star were drained of all hope.

Mood Star had become a world of evil.

Yet, in one area of Mood Star, there was a sliver of hope that remained. It was in the broken-down slums of Moodica.

Moodica reflected the rest of Mood Star. It was dank, dark and desolate. Criminals were a constant problem. Even the Shadymoods, the Moods that lived there, were never trustworthy.

This is the place where Rukavi Shade lived. He had gotten that name from the people of Moodica. Rukavi had fallen out of the sky four years ago.

The leader, XLR, had raised him since he was two years old. XLR thought that he could raise Rukavi to be a member of the Aru Gang. Unfortunately, while training one day, Rukavi had sneaked into the armory in XLR's factory and had stolen a very rare and extremely valuable sword. He had been on the run ever since.

The sword, known as Star Edge, had been the King's pride and joy. It had been forged from the crystal core of a meteor that had fallen from the stars.

The sword had been honed to perfection by the King of Darkness himself, Arupnyn. It had been stored in XLR's factory for safekeeping while the King had been planning an attack on Swain Castle.

Rukavi, who had learned about the sword's location, had seized his chance to steal it. He was browsing XLR's factory at a training session on fighter skills one day and had sneaked through the air vent system. When he was over the room with the sword, he lowered himself over the laser security system and carefully lifted the sword from its pedestal.

Getting out was no easy matter. On his way out, Rukavi had accidentally stepped on a motion-sensor tile that he had assumed would not go off. Once the guards had arrived, though, Rukavi had vanished and escaped from the building. Unfortunately, he had dropped the Star Edge while climbing through the fence on his way out. To hide from the heat, Rukavi had escaped into the slums. He had been in hiding ever since.

Rukavi knew that one day would come when he would have to confront XLR. He would have to prepare for that time soon enough.

While lying on a rooftop in the Moodica slums, Rukavi was dreaming of things that had already happened. He dreamt of the start of the Golden Age and how it had devastated the world. Someone was standing next to him. His name was Ri-something. A large explosion rocked the area and three figures flew off in different directions.

Someone was calling to him. It appeared to be a large golden card with a broken star on it.

_R... u.. .k... i... M... o... o... d..._ called a voice. Rukavi was confused. _H... e... l... p.. .m... e..._ Rukavi saw a picture of XLR's factory followed by a picture of XLR himself. _H...e...l...p...u...s... _A picture of another golden card appeared. It had a picture of a cap on it.

Rukavi suddenly heard other mourning voices calling for a "Ruki Mood."

"Who's Ruki Mood?!" he yelled, desperately.

The dream vanished and Rukavi found consciousness gripping at him. He must have said it out loud, because the dream did not come back.

**Chapter 5: The Logic Freak**

Ristar Starton was currently living on Flathead Foozy's Flying Fortress. What a monster of a fortress it was! It could have been passed of as a small, flying town. The view from the fortress could have had a breathtaking view if they hadn't been hovering in the middle of the Moodician Ocean.

The Fortress had been created by none other than the King of Darkness himself. Being two square miles in width and almost half a mile high, the fortress was a masterpiece for training Arupnyn's soldiers for war. It had been built mainly to secure all of Arupnyn's prisoners and treasures. Every day a sky copter brought new prisoners and freshly plundered treasure to the fortress.

There were many, many secrets to the fortress. Unfortunately, every single one of them was blocked by an impenetrable door with a state-of-the-art lock. The key to every lock was the answer to a logic problem. Unfortunately, very few Moods were very good at logic.

Ristar had gotten a Rank S in his training by Foozy himself. Because of this, Ristar had been given a special gun called an R.Y.N.A. by Foozy to use in his fight alongside the King of Darkness.

However, he had been deceiving them all along. Ristar was sent on board the Fortress as part of the Resistance. His job was to gain Flathead Foozy's trust through training and locate the Gold Card that had been rumored to be on Foozy's Fortress. The card, Ristar had heard, contained the essence of one of the Pure Ones. The Resistance needed the Pure One to help fight Arupnyn.

Ristar had been on the Fortress for three years, steadily enduring the torturous training to become Flathead's right-hand star. Ristar, however, had joined the mission because he felt the Pure One would help him discover how he came to Mood Star. He knew where the Gold Card was, but the riddle that blocked the door to it was a real stumper.

The lock said this: "What is the cause of all movement for living or not? What flows like a river yet is as brittle as crystal glass? It's a blessing of life, yet is the kiss of death."

Ristar had learned the answers to all the doors except this one from Flathead Foozy's henchmen. It was Ristar that had recovered some of the treasure from Foozy and shipped it back to the Resistance.

Then one day, he was given a message that Foozy wanted to see him in his office and that very special information would be relayed to him at that time. Ristar assumed that it had something to do with the remaining locked door with its stumping question and awaited the rendezvous with anticipation.

Ristar's appointment with Foozy was drawing near. He would soon learn what the answer to the door.

**Chapter 6: XLR's Factory**

Over the next few days, Rukavi spent time trying to interpret what his dream meant. The voice that had spoken to him sounded like it was in desperate need of help. It had sounded like the energy was being drained from it.

The picture of XLR had been no coincidence, either. Rukavi came to the conclusion that whatever had been calling for help was residing somewhere in XLR's factory. He then started planning the biggest break-in in Moodica history.

The following week and a half, Rukavi stalked the factory, learning everything he could. He studied the guards' shifts, the camera angles and soon found out where his point of entry was.

On the day of his heist, Rukavi discovered the perfect location to enter the factory. There was a small vent that the camera's range did not reach. Rukavi checked his map and found that it dropped into one of the most severely guarded rooms in XLR's Factory: The Power Core.

That night, Rukavi left his hideout and climbed through a hole in the fence that he had carefully found near the vent.

_It's on_, thought Rukavi.

**Chapter 7: Pay Day**

While Rukavi was getting ready for the heist of his life, Ristar had an appointment with Flathead Foozy. But unlike Rukavi, Ristar's infiltration felt like a walk in the park.

Now, Ristar sat in a comfy chair in Foozy's office, sucking on a jawbreaker from a tin on his desk.

"Now, Ristar," said Foozy, choosing a jawbreaker. "I want to discuss our settlement that we agreed on."

Ristar looked confused. "Settlement, sir?"

Foozy smiled. "You remember the contract you signed when you joined my army?"

Ristar thought a bit. It had been over three years since he had joined Foozy's army. The plan that the Resistance had come up with had backfired leaving Ristar at the hands of Foozy's minions. Instead of killing him, they had drugged him and forced him to sign up for Foozy's army.

"Oh, yeah," said Ristar, recalling. "What of it?"

"It's time we discussed pay," said Foozy. "I think a reasonable treasure would cut it."

Ristar leaned forward in his chair. He had been waiting for this for years! He had heard that those army members who got paid by Flathead Foozy got so much treasure that they got to leave Foozy's army for good!

"If you proceed to the bottom floor of the Fortress, you'll see a large golden door. The password is "time". Inside is a podium with your reward. You may leave."

Ristar leapt to his feet and bounded out of the room. Foozy smiled slyly. "Good riddance," he muttered under his breath.

Ristar was hailed as a hero as he headed down to the bottom of the Fortress.

"Congrats, Star!" said a soldier, patting him on the back as he ran down the hall.

"Smell ya later!" said another.

"Lucky punk!" chimed a third.

Ristar was so ecstatic, he didn't even notice a large package that was thrown in front of him from around a corner until he tripped over it.

"OOF!" grunted Ristar, sliding about four feet. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

Picking himself up, he looked around and saw a badly wrapped package in brown paper. Checking that no one was looking, Ristar unwrapped the paper and revealed a large purple striped rod with a large topaz shaped like a star. Attached to it was a note. Ristar tore it off and read it.

"Dear Ristar,

This is the Star Rod. I'm giving it to you because you are about to be sent into a great danger. Flathead Foozy's reward is a power that no one has yet claimed. Exercise great caution when you enter the room.

Yours,

An important friend"

Ristar twirled the Star Rod a few times and reread the note. Now slightly more cautious, he hurried off to the bottom floor.

**Chapter 8: Rukavi's Heist**

Rukavi stood in front of the vent outside XLR's factory, fuming. He had made a slight miscalculation when planning his heist. The vent was red-hot because this was the Power Core's exhaust port.

"(explicit)!" cursed Rukavi, storming around the outside of the vent. "(explicit)! Why didn't I check this spot out before I came here?!"

Extremely peeved, he kicked over a trash can, which caused a loud clatter. Holding his breath, Rukavi braced for the worst. When no guards came, he decided to go back and rethink his strategy.

As he walked past the overturned bin, something caught his eye. A blade of absolute beauty was lying in the rubbish. Rukavi picked it up and examined it.

The blade was made of some unknown gold metal and had four precious jewels pressed into it: yellow, red, green and blue. The hilt was a burnished silver with a violet stone set into the pommel. Rukavi tested the edge and cut his finger on it. Yep, it was sharp.

Deciding to test how hard the blade was, he put the tip on the edge of the vent. Then something happened. The red and blue jewels on the blade lit up one after the other. The next thing he knew, Rukavi was looking down a vent lined with ice.

It took a while for him to process what was going on. By the time he figured it out, the vent had heated up again and the ice had melted.

Getting an idea, Rukavi tapped the vent with the sword again. Once again the sword lit up and the vent froze over. Picking up a piece of cardboard, Rukavi slid down the ice-lined vent at top speed.

"Yaaaaaaaaaahooooooooooo!" he yelled, making _much_ more noise than was necessary.

When he reached the bottom of the vent, the ice melted, making the chute blazing hot again. Rukavi got up only to get knocked down again when something hit him hard on the head.

**Chapter 9: Skyway Terror**

Ristar approached the golden door on the bottom of Foozy's Flying Fortress. He couldn't believe his luck! The password to the Golden door had practically been given to him on a silver platter. Who would have known that the road to freedom was just behind this door of mystery?

"Time," said Ristar in front of the door.

There were several loud clicks and grinding noises as several mechanical locks slid into place. Creaking slowly, the door opened.

Ristar was standing on a narrow skywalk that spanned the base of the Fortress. Below him was the vast blue of the Moodician Ocean. They were about five hundred feet above it and Ristar could see a small outcropping of land where the new recruits were taken.

Ristar looked down the walkway and saw a podium about a hundred yards away. Something didn't seem quite right. It was too easy. He had barely stepped onto the path when a steel-tipped arrow flew by him from out of nowhere just missing him. When he looked up, he saw a small round orb covered with small holes.

Ristar gulped. Typical. It was one of Foozy's traps. Ristar made a note to give his former boss a royal chewing if he ever saw him again. He was only going to have one shot at this. He backed up and charged down the path.

Immediately, arrows began raining down on Ristar. He dodged, ducked, dipped, dived and dodged again. About halfway through, the arrows stopped coming. For a split second, he thought it was over.

But just then the floor shifted and Ristar was thrown clean off the walkway into the clear blue sky.

"Noooooooooo!" cried Ristar, tumbling head over heels.

_This is how it's meant to be,_ he thought, falling toward the ocean. _Oh, well. It's not that far to fall. Maybe I'll survive._

Just before hitting the water, Ristar seemed to fall through it into nothingness. The green aura that enveloped him was so bright that he lost consciousness.

_Xocf mo... Xocf mo..._

_Help me... Help me..._

Ristar opened his eyes. He was back in Foozy's Fortress in front of the podium at the end of the skyway. He looked up and saw that there was a golden card floating on top of it. He picked himself up and walked over to the podium.

The card was about a foot long and contained two symbols on it. On one side was the mark of the King of Darkness, Arupnyn: the Golden Power. That wasn't unusual. The other side contained the picture of a blue cap. Huh.

Ristar reached out and tried to grab the card to get a better look at it. But as soon as he touched it, the card exploded into thousands of bits of green light. For a minute, the lights all circled around the podium. Then they began building the frame of a creature that Ristar did not know.

When all the lights were locked in place, there was a blast of green light from the shape. Then, slowly, the light dissolved and there stood a figure that had not been there before.

**Chapter 10: Rukavi vs. XLR**

Rukavi woke up to find himself surrounded by guards. He looked ahead and saw someone that mad his insides curl with rage. XLR was standing in front of the Power Core looking smug. He was obviously enjoying seeing Rukavi in trouble.

XLR was not a Shadymood, but a Robo-Mood gone haywire. He was about ten feet tall and made out of spare Robo-Mood parts. His left arm contained his main battery, which was a blue liquid rather than the solid material. His right arm, though, looked like a normal robotic arm, except the hand of the arm was retractable to reveal very dangerous weapons.

XLR's legs were just spare parts that had obviously been just lying around when he was built. His torso was very wide, which added to his tremendous girth.

His red, cylinder head was free-floating inside a glass dome on top of his body. Right now, it was smiling evilly down at the pinned Shadymood taking in every detail of the moment.

"So, Mood," sneered XLR. "I finally have you in my grasp. You've evaded me for too long. Now I am going to enjoy torturing you." He looked at the sword in Rukavi's hand and blanched.

"The Millennium Sword?!" cried XLR with a note of panic in his voice. "Where did you get that?"

Rukavi was pleased to see that XLR was scared of the sword. "I found it in a trash can outside your factory."

XLR was seething with rage. "I can have you executed on numerous charges. Things like treachery, breaking and entering, sabotage—"

"I never damaged anything!" shouted Rukavi, outraged. For that, he received a spear butt in the stomach.

"I'm just saying that no Mood would ever believe you, so I'm just making these up as I go."

Rukavi shot him a look of pure venom. This was low even by Shadymood standard. They may be cheating lowlifes, but Shadymoods would _never_ accuse anybody of false charges.

Yet," said XLR, his arms crossed. "I am a fair robot." Rukavi scoffed. "I am willing to let you fight before I kill you."

He looked nervously at the sword in Rukavi's hand. "Let him up," he said to the guards. They lowered their swords and Rukavi scrambled to his feet, not once taking his eyes off of XLR.

The guards formed a wide circle around XLR, Rukavi and the Core. Rukavi figured that even if he managed to beat him, XLR's guards would make short work of him before he could even blink.

"Are you ready to die, Mood?" said XLR with relish. His right hand retracted and a long green laser took its place.

Rukavi said nothing. He gripped his sword in both hands and stood erect.

Suddenly, XLR lunged forward swinging the laser at him. Rukavi, who was much smaller, jumped to the side missing the beam by inches. He swung his sword at XLR's leg and was awarded by a loud _clunk_ and a yell of pain.

XLR, regaining his composure, retracted his laser and out came a shredder cannon. He fired as Rukavi jumped from side to side, ducking and diving as each beam left a sizzling hole in the floor below.

Rukavi ducked behind the Core where the golden card hovered from inside the glass.

"Ruuuukiiiii," sang XLR, coming closer. "Are you tired of our game? Do you want me to end it now?" He was coming nearer and nearer now.

Rukavi knew that he was doomed from the start. He knew that he was going to die here and now.

But he was not going to die here like a coward. He was not going to give XLR the feeling that he's going to beat him here and now. No… he was going to die like a hero and a leader. As he thought this, the card inside the core began to glow a blazing blue.

He jumped from behind the podium and ran toward XLR, his sword blazing with blue fire. He jumped at him, bringing his sword crashing down with such force that his sword vibrated hard enough for him to drop it.

XLR stumbled a little, regained his composure and looked down at the stunned Shadymood.

"Well, Ruki Mood," he said, a look of triumph on his face. "Yes, your name is Ruki Mood. I finally have you right where I want you. I will be the one who is hailed for destroying the last of the Royal Blood."

Rukavi, however, looked smug. "Tell me, how do robots work without any juice?"

XLR looked like he'd been hit the face. He looked down at his left arm and saw, to his horror, that his blue battery fluid was gushing out in surprising amounts.

"You!" screamed XLR. "You'll pay for this! Guards!" The guards advanced toward Rukavi.

Brandishing his sword like a whip, Rukavi taunted the guards. "Who wants some?!" he said, turning around.

The guards backed off. XLR, who was losing power fast, groaned, "ARRRRGH! We'll meet again, Ruki Mood, and when we do, it'll be a real hullabaloooooooo..." He had deactivated at long last.

**Chapter 11: The Sage of Hope**

The figure that emerged from the light was only about four feet tall. It had black fur with a short, white muzzle and yellow eyes. He wore red shoes, blue jacket and pants and yellow gloves. He had long, drooping, black ears with white ends. In his right hand, he was holding a gold ring with a green gem set into it. On his head was a blue cap that matched the symbol on the card. Ristar couldn't believe it. It was a Pure One!

The Pure One opened his eyes and looked at Ristar. _"Kxudb oei veh vhaoodow mo. Mo dumo aj Klonoa."_ He gestured to himself. _"Nxe uho oei?"_ He pointed to Ristar.

Ristar looked confused. "Uh... I'm Ristar."

"English," said the Pure One. "I'm Klonoa. Thanks for saving me."

"No problem," said Ristar, scratching his head. "Say, if you're a Pure One, can't you do something about Arupnyn?"

Klonoa chuckled, "No, I'm afraid I can't. I'm not at full power yet. Even if I was, I'd need the power of the other two Pure Ones to even have a go at him."

When Ristar continued to look confused, he added, "Arupnyn possesses a piece of the Golden Power. Only the two opposing Pure Ones could possibly counter it."

Satisfied, Ristar said, "Is there a way we can find the other two?"

"First we need to get off this Fortress."

Ristar scratched his head with the Star Rod. How exactly were they supposed to get off the Fortress? He was supposed to be dead. Foozy was smart enough to remember that. All of a sudden, Klonoa pointed at the Star Rod, apparently excited.

"The Star Rod! Well, that changes everything!"

He flipped his ring into the air, snatched the Star Rod from Ristar and caught it on the tip of the star. Instantly, there was a burst of green light and what looked like a snowboard appeared.

"This is my Slider Board," explained Klonoa. "I used to use it to travel the planet, but I needed the extra power to get it started."

He jumped on and beckoned Ristar to do the same. Rather reluctantly, Ristar joined him. Kicking off from the ground, Klonoa sent them soaring into the sky from below the fortress. Ristar couldn't have moved from the board if he wanted to.

This was great! Instead of falling straight down, they seemed to surf on the thermals that radiated from the fortress. Ristar was leaving at last! The sky was the limit!

"Waaaaahooooo!" yelled Ristar as they flew further away from the place that he had spent most of his life.

Looking back to blow a raspberry at the now distant fort, Ristar saw something that made his heart drop!

"Klonoa!" he said urgently, tapping him on the shoulder. "We're being followed!"

**Chapter 12: The Sage of Leadership**

As he stood in front of the Power Core, Rukavi had a thousand questions flying through his head. Why had XLR called him Ruki Mood? He had always been known as Rukavi Shade and no other. What had caused the power surge in his sword?

One of the guards stepped forward and spoke to Rukavi. "Mr. Shade, sir, we're glad you took care of XLR, but you'd better go. When the king hears about this, it'll be all our hides."

Signaling that he understood, Rukavi said, "I just got one more thing to do." Nodding, the guards left.

Rukavi walked up to the podium and looked at the golden card. It contained the broken star symbol from his dream. Reaching out to grab it, Rukavi felt an awesome power radiating from it. Just when he touched it, the card exploded into tiny fragments of blue light which whirled around so fast that they appeared to be a blur.

The lights suddenly halted in mid-air and flew together to form a shape. Unlike the green lights, the blue ones formed a much larger shape. This one was at least twenty feet long and fifteen feet high. When they were all together, the blue light intensified, flashed and dissolved.

Standing in its place was a huge creature that might have come from the havens to the north. It had the form of some great bird of destiny. Its smooth, silvery hide shone with a brilliant light. Its belly was a sky blue, exactly the same color as the actual sky. On the creature's back were about ten blue plates that were currently folded seamlessly into the skin. At the end of its long muscular tail were two very sharp spikes. Its wings were featherless and flipper-like, but had five short, flat fingers on the end. On its head covering its each of its sapphire-blue eyes was a blue mask.

Rukavi gaped in awe. The bird reminded him of the great dragons that once roamed Mood Star. Yet none of the dragons had the beauty of the one that stood before him.

The creature spread its wings, threw back its head and let loose a cry that softened Rukavi's soul. It was like hearing a chorus of angels singing in tune with the sea on a breezy day.

Finally, the creature looked at Rukavi squarely in the eyes and spoke.

_Thank you, Ruki Mood_, it said without moving its mouth._ My name is Lugia. I am a Pure One and the Sage of Leadership._

Rukavi backed off. Not only did it call him Ruki, but he had heard its voice in his head!

Lugia smiled. _It's alright. I am speaking using telepathy. It's natural to hear my voice without sound._

Rukavi couldn't take it anymore. "Why does everyone call me Ruki?!" he yelled rather more rudely than he intended. "My name is Rukavi Shade!"

Lugia closed his eyes and said, quite clearly, _Your name is Ruki James Mood. You are the grandson of the King of Mood Star, Remus. I speak no lies._

"If I am, then prove it." Rukavi couldn't believe his mouth! He was arguing with a Pure One! He was the first one in thousands of years to speak with a Pure One and here he was running his mouth like he had nothing to lose.

Lugia opened his eyes again and looked Rukavi straight in his with a stare that he could not break. Instantly, the world blurred around him and he was standing in darkness. He felt like he was standing on thin air. He couldn't see anything and thought he had gone blind.

Then something came into view. Then Rukavi was aware that he was standing in a hospital room. A middle-aged woman was on the bed cuddling a Mood baby. A well-built Mood was standing over her, smiling.

"Young Ruki," said the Mood. "Someday you'll be a great explorer like me."

"James, you know what Remus said," said the woman, sounding annoyed. "He's the heir of the throne. He's going to be a prince and you know it."

The Mood sighed and said, "That doesn't mean he can't live two lives."

The woman said, defeated, "Maybe when he's older."

The scene blurred and faded. Once again, Rukavi found himself standing in darkness. Once again, the scene returned.

Two more times, Rukavi witnessed touching moments with him, his father, his mother and what looked like his grandfather.

The last image showed everyone panicking as a figure emerged from a pyramid and looming over his father with his arms raised and three golden triangles flying apart as energy was shot into his father, who crumpled in a heap.

Rukavi actually screamed and the scene melted back to the present day with Lugia looking him in the eyes.

**Chapter 13: Arupnyn**

In the center of the Aru Empire stood the Golden Pyramid and the home of the King of Darkness, Arupnyn. All of the lands belonged to him. He controlled the factories and towns and used them to create vast armies to attack the resisting countries.

Unfortunately, Arupnyn was not feeling very king-like at the moment due to him being in a towering temper. In the heart of the pyramid, he was currently venting his spleen at one of his guards.

"I don't care about the defenses! I want to know how they released the Pure Ones!"

"Sir," said the guard, flinching as Arupnyn sprayed him with spit. "You must understand that someone delivered the Millennium Sword and the Star Rod to the Mood and the Star. We have no idea who could have stolen them from the armory."

Instead of calming him down, this news seemed to infuriate him even further.

"WHAAAAT?! Those were the most highly secure weapons in the Empire! How did they get a hold of them? Never mind. Get out of my sight! NOW!" The guard scrambled out of the room as fast as he could.

Arupnyn sat on his golden throne and massaged his temples. "Ohh. I can't believe that XLR failed. This is just a pain."

Suddenly there was a massive explosion and the smell of burning sulfur and multiple screams rose from a lower level of the Pyramid.

Arupnyn, his bad mood returning, got up from his throne and went to investigate the scene of the commotion.

**Chapter 14: Ristar vs. Flathead Foozy**

Klonoa turned around and saw that three shredderships were following them.

These state-of-the-art ships were the pride and joy of Arupnyn's entire army. They were small, single-seated pods that had the power of flight. The outer ring was lined with curved blades that were rotating at incredibly high speeds.

What made these shredders so dangerous was the blades had the ability to rotate 360 degrees on the outside of the pod. In addition to this, they could also extend up to twenty feet to cause very massive damage.

These were only used in occasions where Arupnyn wanted damage done fast and quick. Ristar knew that Foozy had found out about him leaving and wanted to get back at him.

Klonoa saw something in the lead shredder and nudged Ristar, who looked around. When he looked back, Klonoa had disappeared, leaving him alone on the slider.

"He's come for me," came Klonoa's voice from somewhere.

"Don't worry," promised Ristar. "He's not getting you again."

For some reason, the ships did not advance on him. Realizing that the shredders were not going to attack him, Ristar pulled the slider around and stopped.

The lead shredder stopped in midair and opened the top of its pod. Ristar gasped. Flathead Foozy was standing in front of him, smiling.

"Well, Ristar," he said with an evil grin on his face. "We meet again."

"Foozy," said Ristar flatly.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me."

Ristar looked around and shrugged.

"I don't see anything."

Foozy, still grinning, kept a cool tone.

"Oh, come now. I know you survived my trap and released the Pure One. If you hand him over to me, I will let you go freely."

Ristar looked annoyed.

"Really? And I suppose you will report me to Arupnyn and he'll take care of me, eh?"

The smile slid off of Foozy's face and he dropped his casual voice.

"Do not use the King of Darkness' name aloud, you piece of inferior garbage!"

Ristar knew that he had struck a nerve.

"Ooh!" he said in a baby voice. "Is ickle Foozy afraid to talk about his boss in front of da big bad Star? Or is Foozy afraid of him, too?" He stopped and enjoyed the rage on Foozy's face.

"I am giving you one last chance to hand over the Pure One," said Foozy furiously. "Do it and I will spare you a slow and painful death."

"I'll pass," said Ristar flatly.

Foozy sat back in his shredder and closed the lid.

"Then you have chosen your own fate."

The three shredderships' blades began rotating and advanced toward Ristar who did an about-face and sped off on the slider. The speed of the slider was no match for the shredders. They closed the distance in no time at all.

For some odd reason Ristar turned around again and headed straight for them! Noticing this, the two side shredders split ranks and headed for Ristar in a pincer formation. The lead one, obviously Flathead Foozy, headed straight for him.

Now faced with a three-way attack, Ristar stopped dead in the middle, waiting. The shredders closed in, their blades spinning in all directions. But at the last minute, all three pods got tangled in each others' extended blades, stalled and exploded. Ristar sped up at the last second, narrowly avoiding the carnage.

Blades flew everywhere. Ristar got nicked in the arm while trying to avoid them. Blood trickled slowly down it while he clapped a hand to his arm. After the smoke cleared Ristar looked down and saw the wreckage smoldering on an outcrop of land. What he saw next made him cringe and look away.

Flathead Foozy's body was lying mangled, bruised, bloody and broken among the piles of debris. The sight was so horrendous that Ristar fainted and fell off the slider into the sea.

**Chapter 15: The Beginning**

Ruki Mood stood quivering on the spot. The emotion and physical pain from the flashbacks had been real. Why? Why had they affected him like that? Sure, he had been touched by them emotionally, but why did he feel like _he'd_ been the one who'd taken that energy blast?

He looked at Lugia and saw, to his amazement, that he looked just as shaken by the flashbacks as he was, if not more. His body was rigid, his eyes were out of focus and his breathing was short and ragged.

"Lugia?" he asked uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

Lugia's breathing steadied and he looked at Ruki, but not square in the eyes.

_Ruki, _he said softly._ Do you know why we Pure Ones were put in charge of the Golden Power?_

Ruki thought for a moment.

"No."

Lugia smiled sadly.

_We were the ones who were, at the time, capable of enduring the fate of the world. The gods who created the world chose us to carry on their work of caring for the world. No, we were not the original creators of the world. We were given the duty of protecting the world by the gods._

_The gods, later known as the Pure Ones by the locals, came from another world. They were creating the chaos that was once Mood Star and--_

Lugia paused and looked at Ruki, who looked lost.

_This makes no sense to you, does it?_

"No," he said again.

Lugia closed his eyes, opened them again and looked Ruki in the eye again. Ruki tried to look away but found he couldn't.

_Relax,_ said Lugia soothingly. _This memory will not hurt._

Ruki allowed the blue light emitting from Lugia to engulf him once more. He found himself standing in the deep of space surrounded by stars. He saw three balls of light circling a ball of molten magma. The balls were differently colored red, blue and green.

The red ball was throwing several balls of fire into the slowly growing magma ball.

_Flarre, _continued the Pure One._ With her flaming arms created and shaped the raw earth that came to be Mood Star._

The red light ball threw one final flame ball, which caused the magma rock to solidify and flew off into the cosmos.

The scene changed and Ruki was standing on top of a mountain covered in endless fog. Just then, the blue energy ball flew overhead trailing energy like a comet. The sky appeared as though it had been there the whole time. The sun shone brightly onto the land. Then the blue ball flew off to join Flarre.

_Natia,_ said Lugia._ With her pure heart, gave the power of law to the world._

The scene changed and Ruki saw the green sphere trailing energy over a forest. Instantly, creatures such as squeekers and flitterbirds as well as plants like the Stand-on-your-head Tulip and the fire carnation appeared. The whole forest was carrying out their business as if they had been there the whole time.

_Mihale,_ said Lugia._ With her iron will, breathed life into the creatures to hold and abide by that law._

Another scene change and Ruki was looking at the three colored lights trailing off into the heavens. As each one zoomed into the sky, a creature was left in its wake.

The red light, Flarre, produced a small, bunny-eared creature with a long tail. It flew back to the newly created planet. The green one, Natia, left behind an odd, long-eared, cat-like creature that fell towards the forests. The blue light orb, Mihale, left Lugia in its wake. He dove into the ocean and disappeared from view.

When Ruki looked up, the gods had flown up and collided into one brilliant flash. In its wake were three golden triangles descending on the world.

_The gods left behind the Golden Power where they departed for the heavens and created the Pure Ones to guard it._

Once again, the scene changed, but this time Ruki found himself inside XLR's factory looking into the eyes of the Pure One, Lugia.

The bird of destiny started preening his left wing with his nose. He obviously thought that he'd given the Mood a real treat.

Ruki still had many questions to ask, but Lugia was oblivious to his attempts and continued to clean himself. All he said was: _You'll know soon enough._

Suddenly, he perked up and stared up at the ceiling.

_A Pure One calls me!_ said Lugia apprehensively. _We must be going now._

"Now?" wondered Ruki.

But Lugia appeared not to have heard him again. His eyes had become narrowed again, but this time he was aware of Ruki. He was looking at him again.

_Get on,_ he said, gesturing to his back. It wasn't a request. He unfolded his back plates and spread his wings. _Now._

Ruki did not want to get a Pure One angry. He climbed into Lugia's back, found a comfortable hollow between his neck and back and settled in.

Lugia flicked his tail once, crouched down and sprang into the air. Too late, Ruki saw that there was not enough room to fly in the Power Core room. Bracing for the impact, Ruki gripped Lugia's neck very tightly.

But it did not come. Ruki looked up and saw that they were outside XLR's factory. They were flying so high in the sky that Ruki was startled at how fast they were moving. He realized then that he might never see Moodica again.

**Chapter 16: Moodshire Island**

"Ristar..." _Oh, my head! I feel like I've been hit by a mallet._

"Ristar." _Where am I? What happened to Klonoa?_

"RISTAR!" _I'm up! I'm up!_

Ristar awoke with a throbbing pain in his head. He looked around and saw that Klonoa was standing over a pot above a crackling fire. He had his ears tied behind his head so they didn't get in the pot. He had also taken off his cap.

"About time you woke up," he said, smiling. He stirred the contents of the pot and tasted it on a wooden spoon. "I've been waiting almost five hours for you to get up."

"Five hours?" said Ristar, shocked. "Boy, I was really out." He sniffed the air. "Where did you get all this stuff? We didn't pack anything when we left."

Klonoa chuckled. "I'm a Pure One, Ristar. I can summon things like this with ease. I just thought that you might need some food. I doubt you've eaten anything lately."

He ladled a pasty gray soup into a bowl and passed it to Ristar, who looked at it, glumly. He had thought that Pure Ones were better cooks than this.

"I know it isn't much, but it tastes great," said Klonoa, helping himself to some of the soup.

_Yeah,_ thought Ristar._ I would really have liked a hot apple pie._

Thinking of how he used to swipe apple pies from Flathead Foozy's kitchen, he took a sip of the pasty soup. He dropped his spoon in surprise. Either he was imagining it or he had just tasted an apple pie in the soup as though it was piping fresh out of the oven! Just to be sure that he hadn't tasted any artificial apple flavoring, Ristar took another bite. It tasted like apples!

Looking over at Klonoa, who was sitting on a nearby log, Ristar asked, "What's in this?"

Klonoa looked up from his bowl and said, "Cornstarch, water and a super-rare herb called Sprig of Flava. It's called 'Wannahokaloogie Soup'. Only the rich and powerful Moods of ancient times could eat it." He returned to his bowl, savoring each bite.

Ristar decided he couldn't argue with that and went back to his soup. He tasted things that he could only dream of like blue fin tuna, water grapes and even tried his luck at Shroom Cake for desert, which he found quite satisfying.

After they had finished eating, Klonoa threw each item that he had summoned into the air and made them vanish before Ristar's eyes. He then insisted that they go to bed until day broke.

Ristar was sleeping on a flat rock nearby with his mouth hanging open and snoring loudly when Klonoa shook him awake. He yelled something to the effect of "Corn nuts!" before he came to his senses. Klonoa was looking at him, his yellow eyes half their original width and he looked apprehensive.

"What?" said Ristar gloomily.

"We need to get to the castle," said Klonoa, a note of urgency in his voice. "A Pure One is calling me."

Without waiting for him, Klonoa bolted off toward the forest, his ears flapping.

"Klonoa! Wait!" cried Ristar, falling off the rock and grabbing his Star Rod. He ran after him, still brushing the sleep out of eyes.

Branches, ferns and roots got in Ristar's way as he chased Klonoa through the forest. He soon lost sight of him. Tripping over another upturned root, Ristar picked himself up for the fourth time and stepped out of the forest and into a clearing.

Klonoa was already climbing up the steps carved into the mountainside to the castle. Taking a breath, Ristar started up the steps after him. There were 884 steps to climb. Each one was taking its toll on the gasping Star.

When he reached the summit, Ristar collapsed in front of the jeweled gate, gasping for air. When he recovered, he noticed that the door was ajar. In front of it was a small bottle of green-colored liquid. On it was a note written in a loosely-written hand.

It said: "Ristar, I only have a limited time. I have been taken over by a curse known as the Chaoshold. It is a terrible curse that that Arupnyn had placed on the Pure Ones when he captured us. Its power was meant to use us as tools of war in the future. However, if we ever escaped from our Golden Card prisons, it would take control of us and we would be yield to no one except Arupnyn. The spell sounds like a Pure One's call to us. I must warn you that if you see me go berserk, _get away fast!_ I can not tell you what would happen if you got in the-"

There was a long gouge in the paper as if the Chaoshold had come. Then the note resumed.

"I have no time! This bottle contains a healing potion created by the greatest god in case we are affected by the Chaoshold. I do not know how to use it, though. Find the Sage of Fate! His name is Babus Swain. Say you are a friend of mine and he should..."

The note trailed off. It was obvious that the Chaoshold had returned. Ristar pocketed the bottle and headed into the castle.

**Chapter 17: The Chaoshold**

Ruki was astonished at how gracefully Lugia moved in the air. The Pure One never had to flap his wings once. He soared through the air as if he was gliding through water. Ruki would have shouted for joy, but Lugia was still very tense.

He had been like this the whole way. His eyes had not resumed their soft, calm selves. His breath was becoming labored as if he was struggling to survive. It had steadily gotten worse as the flight has gone on.

Finally, Lugia flew over an island with a mountain in the center and descended. He landed outside the forest and let Ruki off his back. Ruki noticed that he was shaking so violently that Ruki had to put his hand on his neck to try to calm him.

"Lugia?" said Ruki, very worried now. "Are you okay?"

_N...no!_ gasped Lugia, looking as though he were having a seizure._ I... I... _He looked Ruki in the eyes.

Ruki was shocked to see that his eyes were no longer blue. They were a deep, blood red. Now scared, Ruki started backing away.

_I-I won't obey! You c-c-can't conquer me! _Lugia was talking to him as though he was someone else. His eyes then turned blue again.

_R-r-r-run, Ruki!_ he stammered, now hyperventilating._ Run away! G-g-get away from me!_

"But—"

_NOOOOWWWW!_ Lugia threw his head back and let back a horrendous cross between a wail and a roar. He snapped at Ruki and tried pinning him with his wing.

Ruki ran like the grim reaper was behind him. He ran up the beach and into the forest, crying. This was scary. He had a recent friend who had shared his deepest secrets with him out for blood. He could hear Lugia flying overhead and screaming for all his prey to hear.

Suddenly, the tree in front of him exploded into blue flame. Ruki tripped and ran away from the burning tree, blinded by tears. He did not see where he was running and eventually stumbled into a cave. He just kept running, not caring where he went.

Lugia, meanwhile, had set half the forest up in blue flames. He could not stop the madness that now controlled his body. Inside his mind, Lugia was also screaming for the nightmare to end.

_Please,_ he cried. _Help me! Make it stop, someone!_

A picture of a very evil-looking Mood wearing a blood-red cloak obstructed his thoughts. He was smiling and taunting Lugia as if he were his plaything.

"You belong to me, Pure One," cackled the Mood. "You obey my every command."

_No,_ cried Lugia. _I will not serve you, you murderer._

The Mood laughed as though this were all one big joke. "You already do, Pure One. You serve no other master."

Lugia shrieked like a tortured whale. He could not stop himself flying low over the forest in search of blood. This was a nightmare that wouldn't quit.

Meanwhile, Ruki was cowering in the cave, praying to the gods for safety.

_This was it_, he thought. _I'm going to die slowly and painfully._

No, he was not going to die like a coward. This was the second time he had thought this. He was going to help Lugia if it killed him.

Ruki advanced deeper into the cave. Without warning, he stepped into thin air and fell about ten feet straight down. Luckily, Shadymoods are trained to take such abuse, so he was not hurt.

Cleaning himself off, Ruki squinted ahead and saw that there was a glow coming from down the halway. Slowly, he made his way forward. The glow, which was a ruby-red color, was unnatural. When he got close enough he saw that it was coming from a red-flamed fire in the middle of a cavern clearing.

Wondering who would be able to create such a marvel, Ruki stepped into the clearing and saw a strange creature sitting on a boulder, obviously asleep. As he got closer, the creature woke up looked in his direction.

He was an odd creature. His full height was only about four feet. His squat form was dressed in a shabby lord's robe that covered his whole body. He had legs that were too short to make much of a difference in his height that were masked by his robe. He had a long, trailing tail that was topped with orange fur. His ears were like a Hoppybunny's except that they were drooping and there was a large hole in the middle with a single golden earring in the right one. He wore armlets on his short-clawed hands. His fur was a short, gray shade. Below his permanently drooping lids were sky-blue eyes that twinkled constantly. His nose was the shape of a large grape.

He pulled a mace out from behind the rock and pointed it at him. The head had ignited into red flame. Ruki put his hands up.

"Who are you?" said the creature, getting the mace close to Ruki. He had a voice like soft, smooth silk. "Are you a friend or foe of Arupnyn?"

Ruki looked worried. "I-I-I'm a friend of all enemies of the King of Darkness." The creature looked unconvinced. "I flew over many leagues to come here with the Pure One, Lugia," he added quickly.

The creature blinked and lowered his mace, which extinguished its flame.

"Those who have ridden the back of Lugia have my recognition as a friend of the Pure Ones," said the creature, extending his hand in welcome. "I am Babus Swain. I am a Pure One and the Sage of Fate."

**Chapter 18: Attack on Swain Castle**

Ristar walked the halls of Swain Castle observing the damage that Klonoa had caused. Everything was either broken beyond recognition or set ablaze with green flame. _This was the work of the Chaoshold_, thought Ristar, walking through a door that had been reduced to splinters. He wondered where Klonoa could have gotten to.

A noise came from outside that made Ristar look around. It sounded like an orca that was being tortured and strangled. He considered looking out the window when a piece of timber falling from the mangled doorway distracted him.

KA-BOOM!!!

The wall exploded into bits as a creature came crashing through it and ran into the other wall with a sickening _thud_. Masonry, glass and debris flew in all directions. Ristar's already injured left arm was hit by a large stone from the explosion. There was a distinct _crack_ as he felt it break and sear with pain.

Ristar knew that if he was in front of the window seconds before, he would have ended up with much more than a broken arm.

Picking himself up, he saw that the creature that had caused the explosion was hovering over him. What a beast! From what Ristar could see, the creature had a kind face with a blue mask over its eyes. Unfortunately, its eyes were anything but. They were a flaming red and seemed to have fogged over. Ristar tried to move, but the beast had him pinned down with one wing.

The color drained from his face. He was looking Death in the face. It let loose a wail that made his blood run cold. Knowing that it was over, Ristar threw out his hand in defeat the way he was taught at Foozy's Fortress.

Suddenly, a blinding light emitted from his hand and shone in the face of the creature. It wailed, released Ristar and flew off out of the hole in the wall.

Ristar was in shock. He quickly looked at his hand and saw that a mark had appeared on it. It was three triangles arranged in a larger triangle. Two of them were dimly lit. The third one, on the right corner, was glowing brightly. From what Ristar knew of these triangles, they were the mark of the Golden Power. The lit one was in the position of the Triangle of Fate.

Ristar knew that he wasn't going to get any answers sitting around, so he picked himself up, favoring his broken arm and left the castle. He figured that if that beast was still around, he was better off in the safety of the forest.

It was nightfall when Ristar found a place to camp out for the night. He found a cave inside the mountain after some scavenging. It wasn't half bad. It went in quite a ways. Feeling adventurous, he decided to explore it.

It was pitch black inside but Ristar was trained in cave exploration from four years with Flathead Foozy's army. He threw a rock ahead and listened to it tumble down a slope. Ristar was moving before he heard it drop and hit a floor.

Too late, he fell forward and dropped about ten feet onto a stone floor. Thankfully, he landed on his good arm. Smarting from the drop, Ristar tried to climb back up the wall but found that it was completely smooth.

Looking around, he saw a red light up ahead and walked toward it. Up ahead, he heard voices.

**Chapter 19: Mood Meets Star**

Ruki helped himself to some Wannahokaloogie Soup, as Babus called it. They were in deep conversation about why Lugia had gone berserk. He had suffered the Chaoshold, a curse put on him and another Pure One named Klonoa. They were going to be used as the ultimate weapons in Arupnyn's army to defeat all his enemies. Somehow, the King of Darkness managed to poison the minds of the Pure Ones and turn them against the world.

When Ruki asked why Babus had not been affected, he said, "He does not have the Triangle of Fate. He can not affect those Pure Ones if he does not have their corresponding Triangles."

Ruki took another sip of soup and thought about this. If Arupnyn had only two Golden Triangles, then how did—?

Babus suddenly sat up straight. He had grabbed his mace and stood up.

"What?" said Ruki, getting up.

Babus seemed to be sniffing the air.

"Someone's here," he said, signaling for Ruki to stay put.

He disappeared around the corner. There was a yell from someone and Ruki could hear Babus say, "Are you friend or foe of Arupnyn?"

There was a murmur from somebody and Babus appeared seconds later supporting a Star.

The Star was sporting a broken arm and appeared to be slightly shaken up. He was carrying a very dirty rod with a topaz star on the top.

"Ruki Mood," said Babus, leading the Star over to him. "Meet Ristar Starton. He just had a recent run-in with Lugia."

Ristar Starton looked shocked. "How did you know that?"

Babus set him down and tapped his nose. "I can smell you like a book," he explained. "You arrived here with Klonoa last night and were unconscious at the time. You had three bowls of Wannahokaloogie Soup and fell asleep almost instantly. Klonoa woke you up this morning and you followed him up to my castle. You saw a bottle with a note describing that Klonoa had suffered the Chaoshold." He took another sniff and continued.

"Upon entering the castle, Lugia crashed into the hallway, broke your arm and had you pinned. Seeing that you were close to death, you held out your hand and somehow warded off Lugia. You then exited the castle and searched until tonight until you found this cave. Finally, you fell down the cavern cliff and ran into me."

A stunned silence followed this story. Ristar could not believe that this creature could tell all that just by smelling him!

"Who did you say you were?" he said, still beyond belief.

"My name is Babus Swain." said Babus with a little bow. "I am a Pure One and the Sage of Fate."

Ristar quickly looked at his hand and then back at Babus and said, "Could you explain this, then?" He showed him his hand, which had the triangle shape still faintly glowing on it.

Babus' eyes flew wide open. A twinkle of happiness sparkled as he stared at Ristar's hand. He sank onto one knee in what was an unmistakable bow. Ruki and Ristar looked at each other.

"Uh, Babus?" said Ruki.

"He possesses the Triangle of Fate," said Babus. "I am bound to its power. Whoever holds the Triangle of Fate has my fate as well."

Ruki realized now why Lugia and Klonoa had suffered Arupnyn's curse. Arupnyn had acquired the Triangles of Leadership and Hope. This allowed him to gain control of Lugia's and Klonoa's powers and use them for evil. But that still didn't explain how he had gotten only two parts of the Golden Power.

Babus got up and spoke to Ristar. "What is your command, young Star?" Ruki stifled a giggle. Babus ignored him.

Ristar thought about this a moment. "Is there a way that you can stop Lugia and Klonoa?

Babus looked the other way. "I'm sorry. Lugia and Klonoa will only obey the owners of the Triangles of Leadership and Hope." He paused. "The only way we can get them back is to—" He broke off.

"Is to what?" said Ristar. Babus didn't answer. "Babus?"

Ruki got up and looked at him in the face.

"Oh no!" he cried. "Not him, too!"

Ristar looked at Babus, too. His eyes had clouded over and he had gone limp. He collapsed in a heap.

Both of them looked shocked. It was as if he had died right there and then. But before they could do anything about it, Babus got to his feet.

Ruki screamed. Babus' eyes had become white and staring. His face was slack and his breathing had become shallow.

"B-Babus?" Ristar stammered.

"Ristar Starton and Ruki Mood," said Babus. His voice was joined by a much softer and stranger voice. "Greetings. I am the god of all gods. I only have a short time. The Pure Ones named Lugia and Klonoa have fallen under the King of Darkness' spell, but they can still be brought back."

"Who _are_ you?" demanded Ruki, grabbing Babus' arms and shaking him.

"We will meet before the end," said the voice, flatly. "Listen to what I have to say. The bottle in Ristar's possession contains a potion that can cure the Pure Ones. Pour the potion on your weapons and fire the energy emitted at the Pure Ones. This should be able to throw off the Chaoshold. Remember, you must be at close range to hit them with full force."

Babus collapsed again and lay still once more.

**Chapter 20: Ruki vs. Possessed Lugia**

Babus got up and shook his head.

"I must have dozed off," he said to Ruki and Ristar. "All this cave living must have gotten to me."

Ruki looked at Ristar. They both silently agreed that to tell Babus of his episode at this time was fruitless. Instead, Ristar produced the bottle of green liquid that he had found before Klonoa disappeared.

"What do you make of this?" he asked Babus, showing him the bottle. "I found it up by the castle."

Babus looked at it through his drooping lids. "This is a potion that I've never seen before. And I have seen a _lot_ in my time."

"I have a feeling," said Ruki, feigning concentration. "That we can use this to stop Klonoa and Lugia. This is what I think we should do." He told them about his plan, but without mentioning who told him it.

It was daybreak when Ruki, Ristar and Babus emerged from the cave. The Pure One had mended Ristar's arm in a heartbeat while they slept. Babus tried not to look at the damage done to the island. Everything was up in blue flames and had burned to the ground. The sky was obstructed by blue-ish smoke that dimmed the sun.

Ruki headed up the stairway of the mountain and stopped halfway up. He looked out toward the ocean. Something had launched out of the water. Something large and black was headed this way.

"Incoming!" called Ruki. He withdrew his sword and held it up. It now possessed a vivid green glow.

Something was rocketing toward Ruki at breakneck speed. He steadied his sword and took aim. Just before it reached him, Ruki swung his sword. A green shockwave flew from the sword and headed toward the creature.

It took a steep dip before the shockwave hit it. Ruki was caught off guard when the creature collided with him and seized him in its clawed feet.

Ruki screamed and felt his feet leave the staircase. He was flying through the air in the creature's claws and soon he found himself heading toward the ocean. He braced himself for the impact… but it did not come.

When Ruki came to, he was inside a cave that seemed to be underwater. He looked up and saw that the creature was hovering over him. Ruki gasped. It was Lugia.

But it seemed that the Chaoshold had taken its toll on him. His silvery skin had turned a deep black and his mask, belly and back plates had turned a flaming red that matched his eyes. His wings and feet had foot-long claws on the end that were stained with blood. His muzzle was also stained with blood that seemed to be fresh. Also for some unexplained reason, Lugia was only about ten feet tall and standing on his hind feet as though he had perfect posture.

Lugia was looking at Ruki as if he was going to be his next meal. He was growling menacingly as though daring him to try and run away.

_This isn't right,_ thought Ruki. _Pure Ones aren't supposed to be bloodthirsty murderers! This is the work of Arupnyn._

Looking for a way out Ruki saw that his Millennium Sword was lying close to Lugia's tail about ten feet away. He looked quickly at Lugia and saw that he was smelling him very closely.

Deciding he would get only one shot at this, Ruki waited for it. Lugia let out a shrieking cry and dove for him. Ruki rolled out of the way as Lugia's head hit solid rock. He sprinted for his sword just as Lugia recovered from the blow. Seeing that his meal was getting away, he lashed out with his tail at Ruki. Ruki halted just as Lugia's tail spikes came down and buried themselves inches from where he stood.

Ruki started running as soon as Lugia's tail struck again. This time, Ruki was ready. He dove for the sword just before Lugia's tail struck again. He felt his fingers close around the hilt and its power surge through him. He whipped around and swung the blade at Lugia. Unfortunately, the rouge Pure One conjured up a black shield out of thin air that blocked the blast.

_Arupnyn,_ cursed Ruki, silently. _You've cursed my best friend. I'm going to make you pay for that!_

Ruki was too distracted to see a black ball of energy speed toward him and explode in his face. It hurt so badly that he went temporarily blind. He groped around in the cave and ran into Lugia's back. Reacting in self-defense, Ruki jabbed his sword at him. All he got in return was a psychic push backward into darkness as Lugia shrieked with rage.

He felt something crunch underneath him and a sudden power boost of energy. He had stepped on the bottle of green potion. He saw Lugia clearly as his sight returned and grabbed his sword to deliver the final blow. He caught him off guard and drove the Millennium Sword into Lugia's belly.

An ear-splitting shriek escaped Lugia's mouth as he collapsed in a massive heap. Ruki approached him slowly. A blinding purple light surrounded Lugia, momentarily dazing Ruki. When it cleared, a ball of purple energy was hovering over Lugia's body in the shape of a skull.

Ruki, knowing this is what caused the curse, ran forward with his sword blazing, bounced off Lugia's back and swung at the energy. There was a flash of violet light and the energy exploded into wisps of mist.

Lugia opened his eyes and saw Ruki dusting himself off. He looked at the Mood, a silver tear in his eye and said softly, _Thank you._

**Chapter 21: The King of Sorrow**

While Ruki was taking care of Lugia, Ristar and Babus were in Swain Castle trying to find Klonoa. Ristar had been assured by Babus that Ruki would be okay and that he would be able to help Lugia.

They were in the dungeon of the castle following the destruction of Klonoa's wrath. He had left a path of rubble leading all the way down to the lowest level.

"Got off his rocker a bit, hasn't he?" Ristar joked. Babus was not amused.

"He's still here, Ristar," he said warningly. "I can sense him. He's barricaded himself in the mountain somewhere."

Just then, there was a yell of pain from somewhere. It sounded like a cat being strangled. Babus and Ristar headed down the hall and found a large hole in the iron door that blocked the lowest room in the castle.

There was someone moaning inside the room. Stepping through the door, Ristar saw that the room was lit with torches that glowed with a green light. The room was round with a large round pit in the middle. A creature was on the opposite end of it.

It somewhat resembled Klonoa. It had aqua-blue fur with a white underside. His ears drooped like Klonoa's but were slightly elf-like. His feet were shaped like Klonoa's shoes and were white-bottomed. He wore a large ring that encircled his neck and had two long golden ribbons trailing it. His eyes were bloodshot with small black pupils.

"Hello?" said Ristar. He saw that the Klonoa-like creature was sobbing.

"Why?" said the creature. "Why can't you people accept sorrow? Why can't the world accept me for who I am?!" He had a soft, pleading voice.

He looked up and looked Ristar in the face. For a fleeting instant Ristar could see Klonoa in those eyes begging to be let free.

"You people don't know the sorrow that I go through. You don't understand! I am the King of Sorrow! I must be understood! You must know what I feel!" He didn't seem to notice that Ristar was even in the room.

Deciding to press the matter, Ristar said sternly, "What happened to Klonoa? Why are you talking to yourself?"

The self-proclaimed "King of Sorrow" spoke to Ristar, even though he was still looking at the ground.

"Why do you hate sorrow?!" he yelled. "Why do you not see the pain that I suffer?"

"Hey, I didn't mean anything harsh," said Ristar defensively. He quickly reached for his Star Rod.

"You'll pay!" shouted King, climbing to his feet. "You'll all learn what true sorrow is. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He screamed and an orb of light appeared around him. The orb flew to the center of the pit and Ristar saw that the Chaoshold had taken over once again.

**Chapter 22: Ristar vs. The King of Sorrow**

Ruki and Lugia had been on their way out of the underwater cave when Ristar encountered the King of Sorrow. Lugia had a score to settle with Arupnyn and was flying through the water toward the island at Mach One. This was because that the cave was located on the bottom of the ocean.

Lugia had conjured up a force field that provided fresh air for Ruki. They rocketed to the surface and flew off toward Aru Capital.

"But, Lugia," Ruki had said before they left the cave. "What about Ristar and Babus?"

Lugia stopped and turned his head to look at Ruki.

_They will be joining us soon enough,_ he said, calmly. _I sense that they have found the possessed Klonoa. Don't worry. They will join us at the Golden Pyramid._

Ruki had one more question.

"How come you were...uh...?" He didn't know how to say it.

_You want to know about my "transformation"? _said Lugia, his psychic voice calming Ruki's anxious mind. _I have the ability to change myself into a more... manageable size when I need to explore caves and buildings. It also lets me be less intimidating to the locals._

He resumed flying and left Ruki to think this over.

Ristar, meanwhile, was busy taking care of the King of Sorrow. King had summoned a force-field of violet energy and was hovering over the pit in the center of the room in the bottom of Swain Castle.

Ristar tried swinging his Star Rod to send green shockwaves at King, but the waves evaporated into mist against the shield. He wasn't worried until King began collecting energy into the sphere and was looking straight at Ristar.

"Oh, crud," he said, hitting the floor. The energy beam that came from King flew right over his head and punched a hole in the wall.

"You must pay for your ignorance!" shouted King, his bloodshot eyes blazing with a purple flame. Ristar noticed that as he spoke, the force field flashed briefly.

King raised his hands in the air and two hands made of solid violet energy emerged from the force field in the same raised position.

"Your failure will cost you!" said King, bringing his hands down and causing the hands of energy to slam on the floor. Ristar managed to avoid it. Once again, the force field flickered slightly.

Sweeping his left arm in front of him, King caused its counterpart to do the same. Caught unaware, Ristar got hit full force in the chest and was hurtled against the wall. He recovered in time to duck another energy beam from King's energy field.

"You will know sorrow like it was your only lifeline!" came King's voice from up above. Once again the barrier had blinked for a second.

Now that he knew his opening, Ristar got to his feet, held the Star Rod in both hands and taunted King.

"Hey, you worthless lump!" shouted Ristar. "Come and get me!"

King scowled and made a grabbing motion. The energy hands swooped down and grabbed at Ristar. The Star was too slow this time to avoid them. The hands lifted him up and started to squeeze the life out of him.

They lifted him above King and shook him violently. King smiled and threatened Ristar.

"Well, Star?" said King with a note of triumph in his voice. "Any last words?"

"Yeah," called Ristar, seeing his opportunity. "Happy landings!" The Star Rod, which had been in his right hand when King had grabbed him, fell, penetrated King's force field and struck him clean on the head. The tip of the rod shattered into tiny crystal pieces as it made contact.

Instantly, the barrier vanished and Ristar fell back onto the floor of the room. King clutched both hands to his face and moaned. Beams of light broke out of his body as he hung in mid-air.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" screamed King, writhing in pain. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

King flopped in mid-air and exploded into millions of purple light particles. Ristar shielded himself as the shock wave sent him flat against the wall. The Star Rod shards hung in mid-air, glowed as they absorbed the evil energy and reassembled seamlessly back into the topaz star atop the rod.

When the light vanished, Ristar saw Klonoa lying face-down in front of him, unconscious but breathing. He prodded him in the side and saw that he was coming around. He had opened his eyes and sat up, looking around. Spotting Ristar, Klonoa took off his hat and bowed his head.

"Thank you, Ristar," he said, appreciatively. "I owe my immortal life to you."

Ristar helped him to his feet and helped him out the door.

"Don't mention it," he said, crawling out the hole in the door.

**Chapter 23: Volvagia**

Ruki and Lugia landed outside the Golden Pyramid and looked up at the behemoth that stood before them. The top was at least a two-hundred feet up and was made out of solid gold. There were no guards and the only way up was a single staircase that led up to a doorway near the top. All along the side of the staircase were posts with different-colored flames that burned in the night.

Ruki was surprised at how easy it was to get inside. Very carefully, he made his way up the staircase to the top. Lugia flew up to meet him. Upon reaching the top, Ruki saw that there was a long golden hallway that went deep into the pyramid.

Lugia put a wing on his shoulder and said,_ I'll be with you in your sword. _He let loose a blast of light and disappeared into a ball of blue energy. The ball flew to Ruki's sword and vanished as soon as it touched the blade. The blue gem glowed bright for a second and then dimmed.

Squaring his shoulders, Ruki started down the hallway. It was lined with gold-flamed torches that made everything around him sparkle.

Ruki walked down the hallway for about ten minutes when it happened. The floor gave way and Ruki found himself sliding down a stone slide deep into the pyramid. He went faster and faster along the chute until he slid into a large room with magma surrounding a platform in the center.

Picking himself up, Ruki saw the slide lift back into the ceiling. Looking around, Ruki noticed that the platform rising out of the magma had nine magma-filled holes in it. He drew his sword. Just then a voice rang out.

"Welcome, Ruki Mood! I am Arupnyn, King of Darkness! I'm sorry that I couldn't have the opportunity to meet you personally, but I have other matters to attend to. I'll leave my pet, Volvagia, to take care of you. Adieu!"

A deep rumbling filled the room and from one of the holes came a snake-like creature that dominated all flame. Ruki couldn't believe it. It was a dragon.

Volvagia had a serpentine body with a pulsating, rocky hide. He was a wingless beast, yet he still managed to slither through the air. His clawed arms were muscular and deadly. On his horned head were two blazing-blue eyes that radiated a strange force. A mane of flaming hair flowed from the back of his head. It radiated all the force and beauty of flame.

Ruki could not move an inch as Volvagia descended upon him, his eyes flashing with power. Ruki could only watch in terror as the dragon coiled his snake-like body around him, squeezing precious life from his body. Then Volvagia stared at him with those eyes of his and opened his mouth, as if to swallow him whole. He could smell its rancid breath as he lost consciousness.

**Chapter 24: Ruki vs. Volvagia**

Ruki opened his eyes. Volvagia had released him. He looked around and saw that he was inside a dimly lit corridor. The torches on the wall were ablaze with purple flame.

"Hello?" he called down the hall.

No answer – not even an echo.

Ruki started walking. It didn't look like he was inside the Golden Pyramid. The walls were a rough sandy color. The Golden Pyramid's stones would obviously be golden.

After about ten minutes, Ruki called again. Nothing.

Then a rustle behind him made him whip around. Klonoa stood in front of him, his gray eyes looking smug.

"Klonoa!" said Ruki with relief. "Where am I?"

Klonoa smiled malevolently and chuckled.

"Well, if it isn't the little hero!" he said to someone over his shoulder. "The little Mood thinks he can save the world!"

He laughed and pointed at Ruki, who looked embarrassed. Why was Klonoa laughing at him?

The hallway dissolved and Ruki was looking at a circle of Moods who were all reeling with laughter and pointing at him.

"He's just a baby!" called one Mood.

"Does da wee baby want his bottle?" cried another.

Ruki looked around and saw that Lugia and Babus were howling with mirth. Babus had fallen over and was pounding and kicking with laughter. And Lugia was on his back, laughing open-mouthed with tears running down his face.

Ruki felt as if his whole journey was worthless. He had been a fool to think that he could save the world.

"I'll show you!" he shouted.

But for all the good it did, he might as well have whispered it because the laughter increased in volume.

"Stop it!" Ruki yelled, covering his ears, tears trickling down his face.

Everyone was hovering over him laughing at a deafening tone. Ruki wanted it all to stop. He just wanted to run away from them all.

It was then that he noticed something odd. Lugia was on his back kicking and howling with mirth, yet Ruki had never seen him open his mouth to speak before. Klonoa also seemed different. He was not wearing his cap and his eyes... he did not have such cold and gray eyes.

It was then that it all came crashing down on Ruki like a ton of bricks.

"I'm not falling for this, Arupnyn!" he yelled at the laughing group. "I'm not that stupid! This is all a fake! If you want me, show yourself, you swine!"

The laughter did not stop, but everything seemed to fade from view until Ruki was looking into the eyes of the dragon, Volvagia.

Ruki awoke to find himself bound tightly by the dragon's coils. Its clear, blue eyes sparkled slightly and dimmed as Volvagia's spell wore off.

The dragon growled at Ruki and opened its mouth again. This time, he was ready. With his Millennium Sword still in his hand, Ruki moved his wrist in a quick, upward motion.

The red gem on the sword's hilt glowed brightly followed by the blue one. A powerful blast of blue energy exploded from the sword and hit Volvagia square in the face.

Instantly, Ruki was released from the dragon's body and slid to the ground. He raised his sword, ready to strike, but that was no longer necessary.

Lugia had parted with the Millennium Sword and now he and Volvagia were locked in an airborne dogfight. Volvagia was spitting fireballs at the Pure One, but Lugia seemed to dodge them just fine. Every now and then the Pure One would conjure up a barrier of blue light and ram the dragon hard in the face causing it to drop from the sky. Each time this happened, Volvagia would shriek, whip his body around and become more aggressive.

Lugia got caught off guard as the dragon whipped its tail hard at his left wing which caused an audible crack, signaling that it broke sending him diving into the molten magma with a loud splash from which he did not resurface.

"NOOOO!" screamed Ruki, horrified.

Volvagia shrieked with victory and turned his attention back to Ruki. The dragon breathed flame as he soared nearer to him. The frightened Mood froze as those blue eyes began to work their magic again. Ruki began to lose consciousness again as it drew closer. He could smell that putrid breath again as the Volvagia began to snake his body around him.

And then, from out of nowhere, Lugia, body ablaze, launched himself out of the magma and fired a beam of clear energy from his mouth, which punched a large hole in the dragon's skull. Volvagia screamed with pain as he dropped Ruki and slithered into a hole in the platform. Ruki shook the cobwebs out of his head and ran to the burning Pure One as he collapsed onto the platform and was still.

Just then the evil dragon launched himself out of a different hole and into the air. He began writhing in pain. Ruki also noticed that his body was throbbing violently.

Volvagia gave one last shriek and burst into flame. His body reeked with the smell of burning flesh. His fiery mane dissolved and his bones fell to the floor in a clatter. The smoldering skull landed at Ruki's feet, still slightly moving. Ruki retched with disgust.

Finally, the skull disintegrated and there was nothing more.

**Chapter 25: Ristar at the Golden Pyramid**

A bright sun rose over the Mood Ocean, but nothing penetrated the thick clouds that hovered over the Golden Pyramid.

Three small shapes skimmed over the surface of the ocean toward the Pyramid. A Slider Board, a Warp Star and a platform of red light were making a beeline for the Pyramid. Ristar and the two Pure Ones, Klonoa and Babus Swain, had a mission to complete.

They were going to destroy Arupnyn. They were going to make him pay for all the pain that he caused.

About two hours later, they stopped on the spit of land that housed the two- hundred-foot high Golden Pyramid. They dismounted and looked up at the heart of Arupnyn's Empire.

Ristar looked at the golden steps that lead up the pyramid.

"How much did he pay for this?" he questioned Klonoa.

"That's not funny," said Klonoa. He turned around and started up the steps.

Ristar looked uneasy as they reached the top.

"Huh," he said uncertainly. "That was _too_ easy."

Klonoa was also suspicious. "You're right, Ristar. That _was_ too easy for someone like Arupnyn." He stepped over the threshold and stopped. "Hey, have you seen Babus?"

Ristar looked around and saw that Babus had not followed them up the pyramid.

"No, I haven't," he said, casting a look at the place where their transports sat.

Ristar started down the steps when an invisible force blasted him and Klonoa into the pyramid and onto a stone slide that appeared in the floor.

Unlike Ruki's slide, which had been slanted downwards, Ristar felt like he was dropping straight down the chute in a completely vertical angle.

"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" screamed Ristar, grasping his Star Rod for dear life.

Suddenly, the chute ended and Ristar found himself spinning over and over in a complete freefall.

"I'm gonna throw up! And then I'm gonna DIE!!!"

Down below there was a blood-red light not immediately distinguishable from the dark tunnel. It engulfed him in seconds. He appeared to be falling through flames.

"Mommy! Tell it to stop!" wailed Ristar, covering his eyes.

The ground came whooshing up to meet him. He expected a thud, but instead, Ristar seemed to be floating in a tingling breeze.

He opened his eyes and looked around. He was surrounded by a yellow aura that was flowing from a vent beneath his feet. Jumping out from the stream, Ristar noticed that the yellow energy seemed to radiate from him. He felt like he was exploding with energy. Then just as sudden, the feeling and energy vanished, though the vent continued to flow with the yellow light.

Ristar looked around and saw that he was standing in the middle of a huge platform suspended two-hundred feet above a sea of lava. Around the platform were eight spiked bombs positioned just a few feet from the edge. The vent, which still flowed with yellow energy, was positioned in the exact center of the platform.

Ristar whipped around when he heard a voice.

"Welcome, Ristar Starton!" called a booming, male voice that echoed around the area. "So you, too, have decided to brave my pyramid. Unfortunately, I have no time to deal with you personally. Please feel free to die at the hands of my creation, Flamedra!"

There was a rumble and Ristar looked around to see what was there. His courage vanished in a flash.

**Chapter 26: The Hallway**

Ruki collapsed with exhaustion as the last bit of Volvagia's carcass burnt away. He woke up looking at Lugia's burnt face. The Sage of Leadership was in his human form and was sitting by Ruki's side. He could smell the sea in his breath and everything came into focus. The Pure One was meditating, trying to heal his wounds.

"Ohh… my head," groaned Ruki, trying to get up. He stumbled and grabbed the Pure One's neck for support. Lugia winced. "Sorry."

Lugia smiled. _That's okay, _he said. _You've been through a lot. Here, drink this._

He handed Ruki a cup. It contained a bright, blue liquid. He drank it and felt better almost instantly.

"How long have I been out?" Ruki asked Lugia.

_Not that long,_ said Lugia, putting his wing around Ruki's shoulder.

"Will you be okay?" said the Mood, pointing to Lugia's wounds which had started to close.

_It'll take a lot more than a dragon and a few burns to take me down,_ Lugia said with a mental chuckle. _Though I won't be able to fly for a while._ He indicated his clearly broken wing then resumed meditating.

Ruki sighed, got to his feet and walked around. He was in a completely pitch-black circular room except for the bluish glow that Lugia gave off. He looked at the ground and saw that he was standing on a plush, red carpet with the three triangles of the Golden Power stamped on it. He looked up and saw a staircase that wound upward in a steady spiral.

"Where are we?" Ruki wondered.

_When you defeated Volvagia, you and I were teleported to this hallway._ said Lugia. _Arupnyn is at the top of this staircase._

"Then let's go!" said Ruki, springing up, picking up his sword, which was lying on the floor and started up the stairs.

WHAM!

"Oww..." moaned Ruki. "That really hurt."

He had run into a solid wall of invisible energy at the base of the stairs. As a result, Ruki Mood had become Flat Ruki Mood and was now plastered on the wall.

Lugia walked over and peeled Ruki off of the wall and whipped him out in the air, restoring his form.

_I just wanted to let you know that you failed to notice the locks on the sides of the hallway, _the Pure One said flatly.

"Thanks a lot!" grumbled Ruki.

He walked over to the stairs and put his hand out. Sure enough, there was a wall between him and the route to Arupnyn. Looking to the side of the hall he saw three scanners on the wall. Unfortunately, they were too unusual for even Arupnyn's muscled hands.

One of them, which was the lowest, seemed to require a short, four-fingered palm with short claws on it. Another scanner, a little higher up, was for a puffy, gloved hand that had five fingers on it. The last one, the highest one on the wall, was huge. It had five flat, fingers that looked like Lugia's wings.

Stumped, Ruki went over to Lugia and sat down.

"What now?" he told him. "Those locks need special Moods to activate."

_What do you suggest? _Lugia asked.

"This is going to take some thought," said Ruki, sitting down. "I suggest we sleep on it."

Lugia smiled, but Ruki didn't see it.

**Chapter 27: Ristar vs. Flamedra**

A pool of dark energy had appeared several yards from Ristar. From it rose a creature that made his heart stand still.

It was a tall, blue creature with a white chest. On its chest was a red armor plate with the Golden Power symbol on it. Its feet and hands were covered in armored gauntlets with three steel claws. Two long "ears" extended from the back of its head. The most fearsome part was the flaming mask on its face with a silver notched horn protruding from it. Behind the mask shone two soulless, flaming eyes that chilled those who looked into them.

The creature glided toward Ristar, its feet not touching the ground. He stood rooted to the spot. Just then he heard a voice in his head.

_Move! Or it will be too late!_

It didn't sound familiar.

Ristar snapped to his senses just as the creature called Flamedra raised its claws to strike. He dived to one side as Flamedra struck, burying his claws in the platform.

Ristar tripped and fell into the vent of yellow energy. He felt himself fill with energy again. He had to do something or he would lose it again. He got up just in time to dodge another strike from Flamedra.

As he raised the Star Rod to defend himself, an orb of yellow energy flew from it and struck Flamedra in the chest, knocking him back a few feet. Caught by surprise, Flamedra raised his right claw in the air and produced a ball of flame.

_Think fast, Ristar. _He bolted just as the fireball hit with a crack. He deflected another with the Star Rod, producing another ball of energy. This one just barely missed its target.

Getting the hang of it just as the power drained from his body, Ristar ran through the vent again. Flamedra threw another fireball and Ristar countered, hitting the creature in the face. This time, Flamedra flew in the direction of one of the spiked bombs around the platform.

Enraged, Flamedra flew into the air and engulfed himself in a shield of fire. Ristar was caught off guard when he slammed into the edge of the platform, causing it to tilt steeply to one side. Ristar slid toward the creature and was nearly thrown off the edge when it tilted in the other direction, sending him in the other direction.

As the platform stabilized, Ristar needed a recharge of the yellow aura. Dodging more fireballs, Ristar jumped through the vent, turned around and swung the Star Rod at Flamedra. The creature dodged the energy, causing it to hit one of the bombs on the edge.

BOOM!!!

A huge blast of orange flame exploded from the bomb followed by a plume of smoke about 30 feet high.

Flamedra opened his mouth and blew a wave of fire that encircled the energy vent in a ring of flame.

Knowing he would get only one more shot, Ristar waited until Flamedra was in between him and another bomb. He fired one last shot as another fireball came towards him. Both projectiles found their targets.

Ristar's mended arm caught fire and Flamedra was pushed backwards into a bomb.

KA-BOOM!!!

Flamedra was thrown into the air and landed with a dull thud on the ground. It was over.

**Chapter 28: The Fourth Pure One**

Ristar approached the downed Flamedra cautiously. It didn't move. When he got close enough, he bent over and examined the damage. Flamedra's armor had fallen off revealing an odd creature.

Underneath the mask revealed a kind face with a white muzzle. On its forehead was the mark of the Golden Power. Its hands were now three-clawed and innocent-looking. Its chest was snow-white and bare. Its blue body shone slightly in the light from the chamber.

Just then he stirred slightly. Ristar was ready for the worst. It opened its eyes and sat up slowly. This creature was nothing like Flamedra. Its eyes were a ruby-red and seemed to be calm and cool. It looked at Ristar and spoke in an ancient language.

_Kxudb oei oeidw edo. Mo dumo aj Vee. Nxuk aj oeihj?_

"Uh... Ketchup?" said Ristar, stupidly. Klonoa had acted like this when he first met Klonoa.

The creature chuckled and spoke in the normal tongue.

"My mistake. It's been so long since I've talked with the beings of this world. My name is Vee. I thank you for rescuing me from Aru's clutches." His voice was like smooth silk in a breeze.

"No problem," said Ristar. Realizing something, he added, "Hey, do you know the Pure Ones? You spoke like Klonoa did when I first met him."

"No only do I know him," said Vee solemnly. "I am also a Pure One. I am the Sage of Light."

Ristar looked doubtful. "You are?"

"You seem skeptical. Allow me to show you."

He placed his hand on Ristar's head and closed his eyes.

Ristar was looking at three balls of energy. One red, one blue and one green. They were all speeding away from a planet that looked like Mood Star. The Golden Power trailed behind them. Vee's voice echoed around him.

_When Flarre, Natia and Mihale departed for the heavens, they made sure that the Pure Ones knew the rules of the Golden Power. They entrusted each triangle to a Pure One and explained how its powers could be used._

The Golden Triangles descended onto the structure of the Golden Pyramid and vanished. A Mood approached the pyramid and entered inside. Seconds later, the sky lit up as what was unmistakably a meteor shower rained down.

_One day, a Mood known as Drakken discovered the Golden Power and used its power to take over the world. You see, those who touch the Golden Power have the ability to have a wish granted. If a Mood with a pure heart has his wish granted it will lead Mood Star to a golden age of prosperity. If an evil mind has their wish granted, the world will be consumed in darkness. Regardless, the Pure Ones summoned the meteor shower to alert the gods of the situation of the Golden Power._

A cloud of darkness hovered over the Golden Pyramid until two Moods approached and entered the pyramid. A few seconds later, beams of light emitted from the top and the Golden Power rose out of the pyramid, which had started to crumble.

_Two heroes aided by the Pure Ones, defeated Drakken and returned the Golden Power to the world. Fearing that it would happen again, the Pure Ones drove the Golden Pyramid into the earth and hid the power of the Triangle for all eternity._

Three balls of energy flew out of the flattened earth and raced toward the sky, just like the gods had done earlier. They collided in the sky, creating a large, yellow aura. This one flew toward the north, while the other orbs returned to the ruins.

_The Pure Ones went to the gods in search of help after this catastrophe. They answered their plea by creating a fourth Pure One – the Sage of Light. This fourth Pure One would watch the world while the others slept._

_Years passed and the Pure Ones strayed out of all knowledge. History became myth. Myth became rumor. Even rumor was lost._

The scene flashed to James Mood's camp.

_But even eternity cannot last forever. Fearing the return of darkness, the Sage of Light sent a small Star to prevent history from repeating itself._

The Golden Pyramid was shown rising from the ground. A dark figure rose from the dust into the air. Then everything went white.

**Chapter 29: Bad News**

Arupnyn was sitting in his tower, enjoying fine mutton with damson flower wine. Life was good. He had control of three Pure Ones and he was just about to watch the execution of a small Mood warrior live on his ten-foot wide-screen plasma television.

He was still disappointed that he did not have all the pieces of the Golden Power, but he wasn't concerned. He had all the time in the world.

He switched his TV on and turned to Volvagia's vision.

Static. Huh. He must be underground again. He sent a jolt of electricity through the dragon's skull.

Nothing. No reaction.

He summoned one of his soldiers.

"Go check Volvagia's Chamber," he told the guard.

"Uh," muttered the guard. "Volvagia was destroyed by a Mood and a strange creature."

Good mood gone, Arupnyn jumped to his feet and thrust his hand at the guard. Dark, violet bolts of electricity flew and hit the guard, killing him instantly.

Throwing furniture, food and cutlery, Arupnyn vented his fury as he went over to a picture on the wall, threw it aside and slammed a button behind it. A door opened next to it and he stormed inside.

Inside the room was a laboratory that had strange machines chugging away. One of them was hooked up to a piece of the Golden Power: the Triangle of Leadership. All the time, Arupnyn was grumbling to himself.

"So, the little pest got past my dragon, eh?" he was muttering. "Well, no one gets past _my_ guardians without having _me_ to answer to! Him and that Pure One, Loojia or whatever, want a piece of me. Mark my words, Mood; _no one_ takes advantage of the King of Darkness!"

He stomped over to a table and picked up a golden crown and put it on his head.

"We'll just see who the better ruler here is."

With a swish of his cape, Arupnyn climbed a hidden staircase to the top of the tower and out of sight.

**Chapter 30: Reunited**

Ristar opened his eyes and found himself looking at Vee. The Pure One was kneeling so that he could reach the Star.

"Wow," said Ristar. "That was informative."

Vee bowed his head slightly and said, "You probably know by now that I am the fourth Pure One. I was under Aru's control and sent to destroy you. I apologize for my actions."

"No problem," said Ristar, walking over to the vent of yellow energy, which was still flowing freely. He pointed to it and said, "What's that?"

Vee walked over and stood next to Ristar. He put his hand in the flow, removed it and said, "This is Pure Essence. It flows freely in the Golden Pyramid because the essence of the Pure Ones is the strongest."

"What does it do?" asked Ristar.

"It varies with the color of the Essence. Yellow, which is my force, allows its user to shoot orbs of energy for a time from their hands. Blue, a la Lugia, gives the power of motion to its beholder. Green, reference Klonoa, produces the ability to heal even the most grievous wounds. Lastly, red, a.k.a. Babus, and the rarest, gives the person enhanced strength almost as much as the King of Darkness himself."

You could literally see the sparks flying from Ristar's head as he tried to process all of this information.

"Right... Say, shouldn't we be looking for a way to get to Arupnyn?"

It was as if the room had been waiting for him to ask because a staircase materialized near the center of the area.

"I guess that answers my question."

"Here," said Vee. "I'll help you along."

He scooped up Ristar in one hand, perched him on his shoulder and started up the staircase.

As they neared the top of the staircase, Ristar could see a faint, blue glow up ahead. He tapped Vee on the head and pointed toward the light. Vee looked up and smiled.

"Don't worry," he said, skipping on every other stair. "That is the glow of a Pure One. I'm sure of it."

"Ruki," said Ristar, softly.

As they reached level ground, sure enough, Ruki and Lugia were sitting in the middle of the hallway. The doorway melted into solid stone as they stepped over the last step. They appeared to be sleeping. Ruki had his back propped against Lugia, who had his head under his wing.

Ristar climbed down from Vee and walked over to Lugia. Not sure that it was another one of Arupnyn's tricks, he prodded Lugia's shoulder with the handle of his Star Rod.

Lugia stirred and uncurled his neck. His shifting woke Ruki, who yawned widely and stretched.

"Good morning, sunshine." said Ristar, happily. "Or good evening or good night or whatever. I really can't tell in here."

Ruki got up and yawned again.

"About time you guys got here!" he said grumpily. "I could use your help."

"With...?" said Ristar.

Ruki pointed to the seemingly empty staircase in front of them.

"So?"

"Just go look at it."

Ristar walked over to the staircase while Vee introduced himself to Ruki and Lugia.

CLUNK.

Ristar walked into the barrier that had stopped Ruki. Massaging his head, he knocked on the barrier. Solid.

Looking around, he spotted the palm print scanners that supposedly opened the door. Inspecting the highest and largest one, Ristar got an idea.

"Hey, Lugia!" he called. "Try putting your wing on this scanner!"

Lugia sidled over, inspected the scanner and then put his right wing on the pad.

CLICK. BEEP. CLUNK.

For a moment the wall separating the staircase became a solid white, and then it dissolved with a hissing sound. The way was clear.

"Would anyone care to join us?" said Ristar, starting up the stairs.

Vee picked up Ruki and followed Ristar and Lugia.

**Chapter 31: Arupnyn's Chamber**

As they raced up the stairs, Ruki and Ristar could hear the chilling sound of organ music coming from the top. It sounded so cold, that Ristar considered turning back.

"You can't turn back now!" said Ruki, outraged. "We've come too far to quit! We're so close now!" Ristar then continued without comment.

Ruki reached level ground first. Vee was next. Then Lugia. Lastly, huffing and puffing, Ristar.

"I'll… never… take… stairs… for granted… again!" he gasped, clutching a stitch in his chest.

They stood before a ten-foot-tall stone door. It bore the markings of the stone wall that had first appeared in the Golden Pyramid ruins. Three balls of energy were carved around the three Triangles of the Golden Power. A fourth orb, which hadn't been noticed before, was in the center of the Triangles.

Before either Mood or Star could act, Vee and Lugia stepped forward, put wing and claw on the door, and said, clearly and loudly, "_Efod_!"

The door split in half and slid open. The group stepped in the room as it slammed shut behind them.

They were standing in a room which the ceiling was too high to measure. An enormous pipe organ filled the opposite side of the room. From it came a bone-chilling tune that blared throughout the Pyramid. At the keys was none other than the King of Darkness, Arupnyn.

At first, he took no notice of the newcomers. But then Arupnyn stopped playing. He paused… and then spoke to them

"They are finally coming together. Leadership… Hope… Fate… They are becoming one again."

Ruki and Ristar drew their weapons, ready. But the King continued as if he didn't notice.

"That part that I failed to capture on that day... I never expected that they'd end up with the likes of _you._"

He motioned to Ristar as he turned around with a swish of his cape.

"These toys are too powerful for you! I demand that you return it to me!"

Arupnyn lifted his right hand. A symbol of the Golden Power appeared, except only the top and bottom-left Triangles were distinguishable. He then raised his arms and shouted an incantation.

"_Rhadw kxo Tuhb Edoj!"_

Two violet bursts of energy materialized. They took the shapes of the Pure Ones Klonoa and Babus. They looked the same except their eyes were a blind, staring white. Babus drew his mace. Klonoa drew his ring. Before Ruki and Ristar could move, they had charged forward. It was all over.

But before they made contact, Lugia and Vee jumped between them, conjuring blue and yellow shields. The possessed Pure Ones collided with the clean Pure Ones in a blinding white light. When it dissipated, all four Pure Ones were flying around the room, colliding with each other's different colored shields.

_Ruki! Ristar! _called Lugia between collisions. _I'm sorry we can't help you defeat Arupnyn. We're going to try to purify Klonoa and Babus._

"All we can do is this," said Vee, avoiding Babus' charge.

A tile on the floor of the room slid back to reveal a vent of ruby-red Pure Essence flowing freely. Arupnyn saw this and became enraged.

"We'll just see about that!"

He donned a horned skull mask that did not shadow his flaring eyes. The organ behind him vanished so that there were paintings of a forest path all around.

"Now," said Arupnyn. "We fight."

**Chapter 32: Showdown**

Arupnyn rose into the air and drew a huge trident from nowhere. Ruki raised his sword. Instead of attacking, Arupnyn flew into one of the paintings in the wall and disappeared into the background.

"Come on!" shouted Ruki. "Why are you running?!"

Arupnyn laughed and started down a forest path towards them. They stood poised.

But instead of jumping out of the painting, the king turned on his heel and ran back into the forest. Ruki and Ristar were too distracted by this to notice the real Arupnyn appear behind them out of another picture and fire a lightning bolt from his trident.

"AAAAAAARRRRRGH!" screamed the heroes as they were caught off guard. Arupnyn laughed, jumped over the both of them and disappeared into another painting.

Panting, Ruki got to his feet and held his sword back in position.

"We gotta be more careful," he said, helping Ristar up. "It's another one of his illusions!"

Ristar looked from Ruki to the paintings to the vent of Red Essence in the middle of the floor.

"I got an idea," he said. He then told it to Ruki.

Just then, Arupnyn could be seen coming down another path, laughing evilly. Ruki looked around the room and saw that there were _two_ Arupnyns approaching. One was regular colored, the other was much darker. On a hunch, Ruki focused his attention on the lighter one.

The darker one turned around, but the lighter Arupnyn raised his trident and conjured up a bolt of electricity. Ready this time, Ruki swung the Millennium Sword _hard._ The bolt bounced off the blade and headed towards the flying king.

Arupnyn reacted just in time to hit the bolt back toward Ruki. Out of reflex, Ruki hit it again. For a few seconds it was like a dangerous game of tennis.

The dueling Pure Ones clashed overhead, causing Arupnyn to stumble, miss and get hit full force in the chest with an agitated bolt of energy.

"AAAAAARRRRRRGH!" screamed the king, falling to the floor, stunned.

Right on cue, Ristar charged ahead with his Star Rod powered by Red Essence. He thrust the Rod directly through the King's heart.

Instead of blood, Arupnyn bled a gray mist as the juiced-up Star Rod throbbed with red light. Writhing and screaming, the stricken King of Darkness began to disintegrate into a smoky gray mist. The body fell limp as it hovered in the center of the room. Ruki and Ristar gaped at the sight before them.

Just then a voice rang out throughout the room.

"Well done, you two. You may be gaining some slight skill." It was Arupnyn. "However, you only defeated my phantom. When you face the real me, it won't be as easy."

"Arupnyn! Show yourself!" yelled Ruki.

"Don't worry, Mood," said Arupnyn, sneering. "You'll get a chance soon enough."

A purple vortex appeared in the floor and pulled the decaying phantom into it.

"What a waste that phantom was! I shall banish it to the gap between dimensions! If you want to face me, come to my citadel in the north!"

The vortex vanished and Arupnyn's voice faded with a laugh.

All four Pure Ones descended from the ceiling and landed in front of the duo.

**Chapter 33: To the Havens**

Ruki and Ristar stood ready to fight. Instead, Klonoa and Babus merely smiled.

Klonoa ran a hand through his long ears and said, "Relax, you two. We don't want to fight."

Lugia gestured to Klonoa and Babus and added, _When you defeated Phantom Aru we managed to free our comrades from his grip._

Vee put in, "We have something to share with you."

Babus stepped forward. "Ruki, Ristar, look at the back of your right hand."

They did so. On the back of Ruki's hand was a Golden Power symbol with the left Triangle lit. Ristar had a similar mark except the right Triangle was distinct.

"Ruki," said Klonoa. "You are the bearer of the Triangle of Hope. I am at your command." He stepped in front of him and knelt.

"Okay..." said Ruki uncertainly. "How did I get it?"

_When you defeated Aru, _explained Lugia._ One of the Triangles left him and chose you as its bearer._

"And Ristar," said Babus, stepping forward and kneeling as well. "You are the holder of the Triangle of Fate."

"Gee," muttered Ristar. "I don't know what to say."

"I do," piped Ruki. "If you guys can help us get to Arupnyn's citadel, I'd appreciate it." He looked hopefully at Vee and Lugia.

"Don't worry," said Klonoa, getting to his feet. "We got it covered."

All four Pure Ones stood side-by-side and raised their arms. At once they dissolved into their spirit form. For a moment they hovered in mid-air. Then with a great _whoosh_ they flew in different directions leaving a trail of color in their wake. Finally, the four streams of color flew together and combined into an orb of white light. It shone brightly for a second and then took the shape of a multi-colored star that rippled with energy.

Lugia's voice called out, _This is the Neo Star. We can use this to bring you to Arupnyn's citadel._

"Do we have a choice in the matter?" said Ristar, hopefully. Ruki glowered at him. "All right! All right! We're going!"

The duo climbed onto the Neo Star. Instantly, they felt their feet meld onto it. Ristar looked worried.

_Don't worry about it,_ came Vee's voice. _We won't let anything happen to you._

At once, they felt the air whoosh out from underneath them. The Neo Star flew through the Golden Pyramid's solid walls and out into a cloudy night. They were in the clouds in a matter of seconds. The rush stopped and they were soaring through the night sky at breakneck speed, though the wind did not affect them.

_Probably the Pure One's protection,_ thought Ruki.

About half an hour later, Ruki saw the peaks of some mountains approaching. As they got closer he saw that the clouds did not limit the height of these monstrosities. They seemed to reach up to the stars before reaching their peaks.

_Those are the peaks of the Holy Ring,_ said Klonoa's voice form the Neo Star. _They conceal the _Dehkx Xupotj._ The North Havens._

"I've heard of this place," said Ruki in awe. "This is where the creatures of the gods' dreams reside."

They approached the Holy Ring at an alarming rate. Just when it looked like they were about to collide with it, a door of solid stone slid to one side, allowing the group to enter. Ruki's jaw dropped open.

**Chapter 34: The North Havens**

The North Havens were, beyond a doubt, _the_ most beautiful place in all of Mood Star. The valley was about two miles across. The trees contained shimmering silvery-white leaves covered with crystal-clear dew. Ruki saw a river of liquid gold that flowed through the middle of the valley. The ground was made up of a fine dust that seemed like snow. Ruki noticed that a tall, steel citadel rose out of the middle of the valley. It was a stain on this perfect picture of paradise.

Ruki looked at Ristar to see what he thought, only to see that he had fallen asleep on his feet.

They landed about a quarter-mile away from the citadel in a forest clearing. Ruki felt his feet unglue from the Neo Star. Ristar fell onto the ground with a bump and woke with a start.

The Neo Star split into four parts and soon transformed into the four Pure Ones. Klonoa went to Ruki to talk.

"Ruki," he said seriously. "We cannot approach the citadel due to Arupnyn's power. You'll have to go inside and find him."

_Klonoa!_ said Lugia, quite annoyed. _We can't help them while they're in the citadel, but when they get to the top of the silo, we'll be able to relay our power to them._

"What silo?" said Ristar suspiciously.

_Arupnyn is planning to release a sea of Dark Essence on the world,_ said Lugia, his eyes narrowing. _We need to stop him._

Ruki and Ristar shifted their weapons and started toward the citadel. Babus' voice called out, "If you see any creatures that lived in the havens inside the citadel, we'd appreciate it if you set them free."

"No problem," said Ristar.

Ruki and Ristar approached the door of the citadel, which rolled to one side to let them in. The final stage of their journey had begun.

**Chapter 35: Arupnyn's Citadel**

Ruki and Ristar were standing in a cathedral-sized circular room. In the center of it was a large robot behind a violet force field. Four colored beams of energy flew from the force field to spires mounted above doors around the room. They were colored yellow, blue, green and red.

Ruki went over to the robot and knocked on the force field. Solid.

"Well," said Ruki. "I guess we need to disable this, huh?"

Ristar's eyebrows became low and level.

"Ya think?!" he said grumpily.

Ruki looked up and followed the yellow beam to a door marked with a yellow V on it.

"Okay," he said to Ristar. "We're going to have to split up. I'll take the blue and green beams. You'll deal with the yellow and red ones."

"No problem," said Ristar with a quick salute. He took off toward the door that had a red mace on it.

Ruki took a deep breath and stepped through the blue door with a broken star on it.

He was standing in a sapphire-colored chamber with many carvings on the walls. The floor was a shiny blue with a fountain that spurted unnatural blue water ten feet into the air. The blue pedestals that littered the room were each topped with a vase or weapon that would have fetched a pretty penny back at Moodica.

Ruki went to examine the carvings on the wall. They were pictures of people worshiping a figure that had looked like a bird of destiny that seemed to bring good fortune to the people. It looked like the figure was that of the Pure One, Lugia. It had the same wings, tail and belly that Lugia did.

Ruki walked to the end of the room to discover that there was no way out. Huh. He turned around and walked back to the entrance. He did not notice that a tile sank into the floor as he walked over it.

Suddenly, the light dimmed and the fountain stopped gushing water. Ruki whipped around and saw that an orb of violet energy had appeared above the fountain. Inside was a figure that slowly came into view.

It was an odd creature. It stood on two legs and had a Mood posture. It had the head and tail of a Lupe that roamed Mood Star's forests. It had the sleek and body of a female, though it was obviously six feet tall, slightly outgrowing Ruki. It wore a high-tech battle suit that allowed for freedom of movement. Its fur and suit were all either a violent blue or aqua color. Its hair was in locks as it fell all around its head. It carried a long metal staff in its left hand with strange markings. What bothered Ruki were its eyes. They were a clear sapphire-blue, yet they appeared to be glazed over and staring.

Realizing that he was going to have to fight this fox, Ruki drew his Millennium Sword and stood poised.

The fox twirled its staff expertly and shouted at the top of its voice, "KRYSTAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!"

Ruki gulped audibly.

**Chapter 36: Ristar Shreds**

While Ruki had Krystal to deal with, Ristar was having his own problems. He had stepped through the red door to find himself on a crop of land in the middle of a boiling sea of lava. To make matters worse, the door had vanished the moment he had stepped into the room.

Ristar looked around and saw that there was no solid land anywhere. He sat down to think on this.

Ristar wished that he could have at least grabbed his Star Rod before he entered the citadel. He felt stupid for having forgot it. Oh well.

As he sat there, Ristar took out a bag of Mood Cookies that he kept with him at all times.

"Well," he said to himself, his mouth full. "Might as well think about the good times."

An hour later, Ristar was walking around the crop of land watching the lava bubble. Having finished his cookies, he had crumpled the bag and thrown it into the lava. He resumed looking at the lava.

Bored, Ristar looked down and saw something odd. The bag that he had thrown was hovering on a blank spot just off the spit of land he was standing on. Reacting without thinking, Ristar walked over to pick it up.

Looking down, he saw a glowing red star at his feet. Confused, Ristar said the first thing that popped into his head.

"Babus?"

_I was wondering if you would see it,_ said Babus' voice from somewhere in the room.

"I obviously didn't," said Ristar, annoyed.

_I can only keep this Warp Star going for so long. You'll need to reach the force field generator before I lose you completely. I'll show you the way._

A thin silver line materialized that went further into the room.

_You'll also need this. A_ weight fell on Ristar's back who knew instinctively that he had gotten his Star Rod back.

"Here I go!" Ristar kicked off from the land and off into the lava-covered area.

He started off slow but then shot off like a bullet from hell. The Star and star raced through the dark cave avoiding several exploding bursts of magma. Once, a drop of scalding magma hit the back tip of the Warp Star mere inches from Ristar's left foot. Fortunately, it left no mark on his shining ride.

Ristar looked ahead and saw a huge wall of molten magma rushing up at an alarming rate! He tried to pull the Warp Star off its track, but too late. The stars plowed full force into the magma. Ristar had a brief period of warm breeze around him followed by a sudden pain in his knees.

He had stopped. Ristar found himself face-down on a tiled floor having flown about twenty feet with the sudden halt of the Warp Star. He got up and looked around. He was standing in a small room with a large beam of red light emitting from a statue of Arupnyn in the middle of the room.

Feeling a sense of vandalism, Ristar grabbed the Star Rod from behind his back and walked up to the statue. He was about to strike the statue right between the legs when he halted. Arupnyn would not just let a part of his shield be left unguarded.

Feeling slightly foolish, Ristar looked around and found some clay pots with Arupnyn's ugly mug on it. Picking one up, he hurled it at the statue.

KA-BOOM!!!

The jar exploded into tiny pieces inches from the statue. Ristar shielded himself from the shrapnel with his Star Rod. When the action subsided, Ristar saw that the statue had burst into purple flames. A shockwave of energy flew from it and knocked him back towards the magma wall he had just come through. He skidded to a halt feet from the molten goop.

_Okay,_ thought Ristar. _New plan._

He went back to the statue and frowned. Then something caught his eye. He turned around and saw a stream of green light coming from where he found that pot.

_Green Essence, _thought Ristar happily._ Joy!_

He ran up to the vent and stood in the flowing energy. He instantly felt rejuvenated and stronger as Green Essence flowed into his body. Feeling like he could withstand anything now, Ristar picked up his Star Rod and charged the statue of Arupnyn.

WHAM!!!

Ristar ran straight into an energy field that surrounded the statue, yet he seemed to pass through it like a rock through water. The Star Rod glowed white-hot as it touched the stone of the statue.

Just then, Ristar was thrown back to the floor once more. He felt drained as he tried to sit up. The statue cracked violently, emitting chinks of red light. Then...

KA-BOOOOOM!!!

The statue exploded, sending a shockwave of purple energy through the room. The red light dissipated and Babus appeared in its place.

"The Fate Barrier has been destroyed," said Babus. "Hurry up!"

Ristar felt a whooshing sensation and blacked out.

**Chapter 37: Ruki vs. Krystal**

Ruki had to jump to the side to avoid Krystal's staff as she charged full force at him. Unfortunately, he got hit in the face hard with the butt end on the backswing. He held a hand to his nose as blood spurted from it. He barely had time to recover as she came at him again. He lifted his Millennium Sword instinctively as she came down hard with such force that it vibrated in his hands.

_Holy (explicit)! _thought Ruki. _She's strong!_

Ruki dodged another swing of Krystal's staff as he tried to keep his bloody nose in check. For some reason she seemed to move as fast as he did. If only there was some way of getting the upper hand.

Three times Ruki managed to parry Krystal's moves and three times he got hit in a different part of his body as a result. He was starting to get tired, yet Krystal seemed to have limitless energy. Ruki made a feeble last swipe at her, which she dodged easily, and fell to the floor.

Suddenly, he felt filled with endless energy. The world seemed to slow down as he seemed to go on a mega sugar rush that could slow time. He got up and saw that he had fallen onto a vent of Blue Essence. Apparently, the Essence of Lugia contained the power of motion.

Looking up, Ruki saw that Krystal was about to finish him off with a downward thrust, but she was moving a lot slower. He dodged out from underneath and thrust his sword upward into Krystal's stomach.

She let out a small "oh!" of surprise and collapsed in a heap. There was a loud rumbling that caused Ruki to look around. The light came back on and the fountain in the center of the room sank into the floor revealing a flight of stairs.

Casting a look at the fallen fox, Ruki pinched his bloody nose and started down the steps. At the bottom was a door with a Golden Power symbol on it. He opened it to discover a room with a statue of Arupnyn with a beam of blue light emitting from the top of it. Ruki, on a hunch, smashed it hard with the flat of the Millennium Sword's blade.

A purple shockwave flew from it as the statue exploded into tiny pieces, knocking Ruki off his feet. Lugia stood in the statue's place, a look of seriousness on his face.

_The Leadership Barrier has been destroyed, _he said anxiously. _Hurry!_

A whooshing sensation filled Ruki's ears and he blacked out.

**Chapter 38: Arupnyn's Museum**

When Ristar came to, he found himself back in the main part of Arupnyn's Citadel in front of the massive robot in the center of the room. Wondering how he got there, Ristar looked up at the robot for the first time.

The massive machine stood about 30 feet tall behind the violet barrier. It had a long pipe on each of its arms that had a nozzle on the other end. It also sported twin energy cannons on its shoulders. There were huge rockets on its back for acceleration and thrust. Its head was in Arupnyn's likeness all the way to the golden crown on its head.

Ristar looked around and saw that the red energy beam powering the barrier was no longer there. The blue one was still being pumped into the force field. Apparently, Ruki had not finished his door yet.

_Okay,_ thought Ristar. _Moving on._

He walked over to the door with the yellow energy beam above it and opened it.

He was standing inside a building with a sign standing in front of him. It said: "Arupnyn's Museum".

There was a yellow pad behind the sign with Arupnyn's picture on it. Stepping on it, Ristar heard Arupnyn's voice speaking out loud.

"Welcome to Arupnyn's Museum. Home of some of the best take-over-the-world weapons you'll ever see. If you look to you're left, you'll see one of my favorite weapons: the Quantum Whip. This weapon was used to capture and punish rebel Moods simultaneously that tried to get away."

The Quantum Whip was a length of pulsating violet electricity that was attacking a dummy Mood on its own. The Mood was captured and electrocuted as soon the whip touched it.

The pad seemed to have glued Ristar's feet to it. He couldn't move a leg.

"Moving on with the tour," said Arupnyn's voice. The pad shifted and moved along the floor. "You'll see a common weapon used on Flathead Foozy's Fortress: the Tankbot. This sneaky tool was used to assassinate the world leaders of Mood Star. This mobile tank with its mounted turret could snipe out guards with an onboard scope and camera. Its remote control capabilities could allow the operator to infiltrate even the most complex buildings."

A similar Tankbot was making its way through a maze to another dummy Mood. When it got there, it exploded into pieces of lethal shrapnel.

"Once it reaches its target, the Tankbot explodes in a blast equal to 1000 pounds of TNT. This ensures that no one lives to tell the tale."

The pad rounded a corner and stopped in front of a gun that was shooting several rockets at flying and ground vehicles with deadly accuracy. The explosions were enough to vaporize them on contact.

"The R.Y.N.A., or Rip Ya a New Attitude, is the most accurate of all Arupnyn weapons. It is capable of destroying any target without the painstaking process of sniping. This is standard issue for all soldiers of Rank A or Higher."

Ristar couldn't help but chuckle. He had gotten to play with this toy several times on Foozy's Fortress. It was a great way to relieve stress. The pad went up a ramp to a dummy Mood holding a small bead.

"This is the Zodiac. The mother of all destruction devices. This one-megaton, non-radioactive, EMP bomb came in surprisingly small capsules. This bomb sends an electromagnetic pulse throughout a twenty-mile radius, destroying any and all electric devices."

The bead exploded and sent a shockwave through the air that made Ristar's hair stand on end.

"Fortunately, we have the latest in EMP-resistant technology," said Arupnyn's voice.

The pad came to a stop in the middle of a digital battle arena.

"We are pleased to announce that you have seen too much and will be terminated in the most painful way possible. Thank you and have a nice death."

Ristar drew his Star Rod as a figure materialized out of thin air.

**Chapter 39: The Rusty Bucket**

Ruki came to back inside the main chamber in Arupnyn's Citadel. Instinctively, he looked up at the barrier surrounding Arupnyn's robot. The blue and red energy beams were no longer feeding the barrier. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, Ruki looked for his next target. He spotted the green door and wandered over.

He opened the door and stepped through into mid-air! He fell 50 feet through the air into the ocean. Ruki coughed and spluttered as he tried to find out what happened. Spotting his Millennium Sword floating nearby, Ruki swam over to into it and hung on. Looking around, he noticed that he was covered in fog in the middle of nowhere. Ruki struggled to stay awake as he floated for what seemed like hours.

Then out of nowhere a voice called, "Mood overboard!" He heard a boom, a splash and a shout. "Catch this!"

Ruki saw a life preserver float towards him. He hooked an arm around the floatie and held onto his sword with the other. The floatie raised clear of the water and raised upward of its own accord. Ruki blacked out from exhaustion.

_Get up! Now, or it will be too late!_

K... l... o... n... o... a...?

_GET UP!_

Ruki woke up once more and found himself staring at a steel ceiling. He sat up and saw that he was in a cabin with several steel bunks with a few sleeping occupants. He got up and strode to a door with a window in it.

He stepped out onto a steel deck. He was looking at the starboard side of a large ship. The ocean was obscured by the heavy fog. Ruki was too used to these surprises to be shocked. He took a stroll toward the bow.

A crewman passed him. But something caused him to look back at him. No. It couldn't be.

"Klonoa?"

The crewman turned around. It wasn't Klonoa, though it looked a lot like him. It had the same black fur and large ears, but it had a sailor cap on with boots and suit. The questionable Klonoa did not have any gloves on and its eyes were a narrow, red color.

"You talkin' ter me, punk?!" the sailor said loudly. It sounded like Klonoa, but when he picked Ruki up with one muscular arm and pinned him against the wall, he knew that he was anything but.

"Hey!" shouted someone who sounded eerily familiar. "No roughhousing on the deck!"

The figure that came running looked like Klonoa when he was under the Chaoshold. Its aqua-colored fur and long dangling ears looked like the creature called King. He was wearing an officer's uniform with apparent cleanliness. He stepped in between the Mood and the Klonoa and separated them. Ruki choked as he tried to regain his breath.

"I've told you before, grunt," said the officer King, pinning the Klonoa against the wall. "No roughhousing on the deck unless you want to go see the Captain."

This was obviously a serious threat because the Klonoa gulped loudly.

"You!" The officer pointed to Ruki. "The captain wants to see you on the bridge."

Ruki felt very small as he walked over a catwalk, past some portholes and onto the Bridge. As he walked, Ruki saw several other sailors that looked like Klonoa and King. He had to pinch himself to make sure he was awake. It hurt very much.

When he reached the bridge, the officer left him standing behind another Klonoa in a captain's outfit with his back turned. When it turned around, Ruki saw that this Klonoa had yellow eyes. He was standing in front of another Arupnyn statue. This one was emitting a green glow. Then to his great shock, the Klonoa winked and addressed him directly.

"Nice to see a friendly face, isn't it?" said Klonoa calmly.

"Thank the Pure Ones!" said Ruki happily.

"Don't worry about it," said Klonoa. "Listen, I know what you're thinking. I have an explanation. This is all a trick by Arupnyn."

"Figures," muttered Ruki. "Hey, can I smash that statue?"

Klonoa stepped aside and said, "Go ahead."

Ruki went up to the statue, drew his sword and sliced the statue right down the middle. There was a shockwave of purple light and Ruki blacked out again.

**Chapter 40: Ristar vs. Ratchet**

The figure that materialized was obviously a creature that lived in the havens. It was about the same size as Ristar. Its fur was yellow with brown stripes. It wore gloves and pants but no shoes or shirt. It wore a leather cap on its head with its straps dangling. Its ears were thin and wispy as they flapped in a nonexistent breeze. Its slim tail ended with a poof of yellow fur. Ristar was more worried about the large and lethal looking blaster in its hand.

"My name is Ratchet," the creature said flatly. "You are an enemy of Arupnyn. You must be destroyed."

He opened his attack with a Mini-Nuke from his gun. Having been trained by Flathead Foozy himself, Ristar ran for it. He was blown away by the impact of the bomb and nearly fell off of the arena.

Switching ammo, Ratchet started shooting off a constant flow of liquid nitrogen. Ristar couldn't get close enough to hit him. Accidentally stepping on a trail of liquid nitrogen, Ristar felt his right leg go numb. He fell over, clutching his leg and moaning.

Ratchet changed ammo again. This time he was sending arcs of electricity in Ristar's direction. One of them struck Ristar, causing him to scream with pain. His limbs were limp, his chest was on fire and he couldn't think. The pain was so intense that Ristar was still writhing when it subsided.

Ratchet tried changing ammo again but couldn't due to a jam in his gun. Ristar stopped twitching and noticed this. He crawled slowly to his Star Rod which he had dropped when he got hit by the liquid nitrogen. Getting to his feet, Ristar charged toward Ratchet and knocked the gun out his hands.

He was about to knock him out when Ratchet pulled out a large battle axe-shaped weapon like lightning and blocked him. Suddenly, they were locked in a fierce battle with makeshift swords. Ristar did not know how to beat Ratchet with melee-type weapons. He had never trained with melee weapons at Flathead Foozy's Fortress. So far he was getting very banged up from Ratchet's axe and did not know how much longer he would last.

When Ristar looked like he was battling back, Ratchet took a cheap shot by kicking him in the fork of the legs. When Ristar collapsed, Ratchet brought his axe down on him. Luckily, Ristar rolled out to one side before contact. Ratchet's axe hit the floor so hard that the arena cracked and shattered into glass pieces. Ratchet and Ristar fell into a black abyss followed by shards of the arena.

Ristar woke up to find himself in a dimly-lit room with an Arupnyn statue with a yellow aura around it. Looking around he saw his Star Rod on the ground a few feet away. Picking it up, Ristar walked over to the statue to destroy it.

Before he could lift the rod, something jumped between him and the statue. It was Ratchet! He was a bloody mess and his body was cut up from the arena glass. He was breathing hard as he lifted his battleaxe above his head. Ristar was frozen with fear. But then he lowered it and said, almost pleadingly, "Use... the... White... White Essence. Stop... him!" He turned around and gave a diagonal slice of his axe through the statue. A purple shockwave blew from the statue and Vee was standing in its place.

"The Light Barrier has been destroyed," said Vee, urgently. "Defeat the King of Darkness!"

Another whooshing sound passed Ristar's ears and he knew no more.

**Chapter 41: To the Dark Essence Silo**

Ruki and Ristar reappeared in the main chamber at the same time. They had finally disabled all four energy beams and were ready to disable the robot when an alarm went off.

"WARNING! WARNING!" blared the loudspeaker. "SILO MAINTENANCE ROBOT READY FOR LAUNCH. NOW LAUNCHING SILO MAINTENANCE ROBOT IN 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

KA-BOOOOOM!!!

The robot's rockets flared and burst into flame. The robot took off up a tube in the ceiling. Ruki swore so badly that Ristar punched him in the gut.

"What have they been teaching you at Moodica?" said Ristar, slightly amazed. Massaging his stomach, Ruki pointed to the ceiling and shouted over the noise of the rockets.

"Never mind that! We need a way to get up there now!"

As though they were waiting for Ruki to ask this, the Pure Ones' voices echoed throughout the citadel.

_It looks like you were a little too late to stop the robot,_ came Babus' slightly disappointed voice.

_Arupnyn is at the Dark Essence Silo now,_ said Vee anxiously.

_You guys need to get up here, pronto,_ called Klonoa.

"And just how do you expect us to do that?" said Ristar irritably.

_We've got it covered,_ said Lugia. _Jump into the in the middle of the room. We'll take care of the rest. _

Ruki and Ristar picked up their weapons and jumped into the pit where the robot had launched. They fell for about five seconds before they hit a colorful vortex that the Pure Ones had conjured. There was a flash of white light and the heroes found themselves on the citadel's roof.

It was nighttime in the havens and the sky was a stormy gray. Lightning laced the clouds as the thunder boomed overhead. Ristar ran to the edge of the circular roof and shouted to Ruki.

"There he is!" he said, pointing off into the distance. About 500 yards away was Arupnyn's robot above the Dark Essence Silo. It was firing violet-colored lasers into the hatch of the silo trying to open it.

Ruki spotted a small platform with Arupnyn's symbol on it on the edge of the roof.

"Come on, Ristar!" he called. "We've got a score to settle." They climbed onto the platform which carried them away to their final battle with Arupnyn.

**Chapter 42: The Final Battle (Ruki and Ristar vs. Arupnyn)**

"So, the pieces of the Golden Power have arrived at last!" said Arupnyn from inside the robot. "Now I can finally claim my place as the King of Darkness!"

Ruki and Ristar had arrived at the silo's roof. So far, the hatch was firmly shut tight. Arupnyn was still pumping lasers into the closed hatch. Ruki pulled out his Millennium Sword and pointed at the robot.

"You've gone too far this time, Aru!" he called up to the robot. "You'll never open this silo!"

"Try and stop me, runt!" called Arupnyn.

Then Ruki realized the flaw in his plan. How were they supposed to attack the robot from this distance? He was spared the pain of thinking by several yellow fireballs flying past him and colliding with the robot.

"ARRRRGH!" shouted Arupnyn. The lasers cut out and the silo opened a few inches. A yellow spire around the silo lit up with yellow light.

"Huh?" Ruki looked around and saw Ristar standing in a Yellow Essence vent with his Star Rod out.

"You'll pay for that!" yelled Arupnyn. "Take this!"

He launched a large round plate bomb out of a hatch on the robot's chest. It started ticking very loudly. Ruki looked around for a safe spot to stand. In his haste, he stepped onto a blue pad and was launched 200 feet into the air. The bomb exploded while he was falling back down. When he touched down, unharmed, Ruki saw that Ristar appeared not to have cleared the bomb. He was nowhere to be found.

"Arupnyn!" shouted Ruki, cursing. "I'm going to make you pay for destroying my best friend!"

"You're too late! The silo is already opening!" called Arupnyn with a laugh in his voice.

The robot's crown opened and several purple energy balls fired upon Ruki. Each time a ball hit the silo, a shockwave was sent through the floor. Luckily, Ruki managed to jump each one. Following Ristar's idea, Ruki ran to the Yellow Essence vent, powered up and fired off several orbs at the robot.

KA-BOOM!!!

The feet and arms of the robot were blasted off the robot. Another spire, green this time, lit up around the silo and the hatch opened up about halfway.

"Why you—!" cursed Arupnyn. "Take this!"

Another bomb was launched at Ruki, but he was already in the air. It had already exploded by the time he touched down.

Arupnyn's robot fired off a beam of purple energy that left a score in the metal where it hit. Once more, Ruki fired off some more Yellow Essence at the robot causing one of the rockets to blow off.

A blue spire lit up this time. Once again, Ruki narrowly avoided another bomb that caused the hatch to open further.

"You think you've beaten me?!" screamed Arupnyn, firing off several bombs at once. "You don't stand a chance!"

The final spire, a red one lit up. Ruki tried to jump on the blue pad again, but it was no longer working.

_Ruki, _called a familiar voice. _It's Lugia. We Pure Ones will combine our power to help you defeat the King of Darkness._

All four spires fired a laser in mid-air that combined into a white shining mass. That mass split into several shining chunks that littered the silo.

"White Essence!" cried Arupnyn. "He must not get it!"

"White Essence!" said Ruki, astonished. "That might bring Ristar back to life!" He paused. "Or... It might stop that robot."

He thought about this for a second as the bombs ticked louder.

"Hmm... Best friend… save the world. Choices." He hesitated again. "Alright, I'll save the world. But I'd better do it quickly before I change my mind!" He ran to the closest chunk of White Essence and absorbed it.

What a feeling! It was simply indescribable! He felt just as strong, if not _stronger_ than the Pure Ones. He looked at himself and found he was comprised of pure energy. He had to release this energy before something happened. He chose his spot and let it all loose into Arupnyn's robot.

KA-BOOM! BANG! BOOM! BAM!

The robot exploded into huge chunks that littered the snowy havens. The head of the robot fell and plunged into the open hatch of the silo. Soon, the head was lost forever in the murky Dark Essence as it slammed shut, Arupnyn and all.

**Chapter 43: Prince Ruki Mood**

Ruki looked off into the distance. It was over. It was finally over after all these years. Arupnyn was dead. The silo was shut and peace would soon be returning to the world. Yet he couldn't help shedding a tear for Ristar. He had given his life in order to stop Arupnyn.

Ruki sat down on the silo. He had finally beaten Arupnyn, but he was still in the North Havens, miles from any home he's ever known.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked around and saw Klonoa standing behind him with a sad smile on his face.

"Good job, Ruki," he said, sadly. "We are in your debt."

Ruki got up and walked to the edge of the silo and looked up. The sky was clear once more and the stars shone brightly in the night.

"Hey, Klonoa?" said Ruki, curiously. "What will happen to the Golden Power now that Aru and Ristar are gone?"

"I don't know," said Klonoa, calmly. "We'll know eventually."

Ruki sighed.

_Would you like to go home?_ said Lugia, who had appeared in mid-air next to the silo.

"Home?" He had never had one of those to call his own before.

_Come with me._ A blue aura radiated from Lugia so brightly that Ruki blacked out again.

"SURPRISE!!!"

"Wha-?"

Ruki had woken up in a broken-down castle bed surrounded by many, many Moods. They were all looking at him with happiness.

"Congratulations, Prince Ruki!"

Ruki looked to the right and saw the four Pure Ones standing next to his bed.

"Prince?"

"With the defeat of Arupnyn, the Royal Family's bloodline was restored," said Babus, with a rare smile on his face. "It just so happens that you are a descendent of King Remus Mood V. As soon as you're out of bed, we'll be going to the crowning ceremony."

"Why are we in a broken castle?" said Ruki, sitting up.

"This is the Mood City Castle after years of Arupnyn's tyranny," said Vee. "Now, you should get ready for the ceremony."

**Epilogue: Two Years Later**

Ruki Mood became the prince of Mood City. Under his new rule, he made peace with the city of Moodica and rebuilt the planet from scratch. He made regular trips to the North Havens to convince the inhabitants to see the world. On his command, Ruki had Arupnyn's Citadel demolished to the ground and in its place he erected a memorial in Ristar's honor. He also had the Triangle of Hope mounted in the rebuilt castle.

Ruki never stayed in Mood City very long. He was always on some kind of adventure exploring the world and trying to repair Arupnyn's damage. Ruki was always in touch with the Pure Ones and was always asking for tips on ways to do better as Prince. All in all, Ruki James Mood was one of the most successful princes in Mood Star history and he lived happily ever after.

Away in the North Havens, the Dark Essence Silo was still standing for safety of keeping the Dark Essence in check.

The long-rusted shut hatch creaked open and a figure climbed out. It let out a long evil laugh that echoed throughout the vacant havens.

"I will destroy you, Ruki Mood! One of these days, revenge will be mine! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

**End of Book 1**


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